Days after Rajpal Yadav walked out of Tihar Jail on interim bail in a cheque-bounce case, businessman Madhav Gopal Agrawal, who loaned him Rs 5 crore, opened up about their prolonged legal dispute.

During a conversation with News Pinch host Abhinav Pandey, Agrawal revealed how his association with Yadav began and how the financial conflict has stretched over 14 years.

He recalled visiting the actor’s home in the early days of the dispute and “crying in front of him like a child”, explaining that the money he lent was borrowed from others. Agrawal added that he repeatedly asked Yadav to agree on a date to draft a fresh repayment agreement.

Yadav was sent to Tihar Jail after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea seeking additional time to repay outstanding dues in the cases. The actor is required to pay nearly Rs 9 crore. Of the total amount, he has already paid Rs 1.5 crore.

In 2010, Yadav had borrowed Rs 5 crore from Agrawal to produce the film Ata Pata Lapata. The film failed at the box office, and Yadav faced financial difficulties. He was unable to repay the loan on time.

The cheques issued by him at the time of taking the loan reportedly bounced, following which a complaint was filed against him. Although there was a settlement between the parties, the full payment was not made, and interest accumulated over time, significantly increasing the total liability.

Agrawal said Yadav insisted the film was nearly finished and warned that without urgent funds, “everything would go to waste”. Though initially hesitant, Agrawal agreed to the loan after emotional appeals from Yadav’s wife, Radha, he said.

The loan agreement stated that repayment would be made irrespective of the film’s box office results, censor certification, or other hurdles, Aggarwal said.

When repayment deadlines passed, Agrawal reached out to Yadav, who claimed he lacked funds. This resulted in three supplementary agreements and the issuance of new cheques, he said.

Agrawal further noted that when Amitabh Bachchan attended the film’s music launch, he realised that the negatives and payments were to be handed over only after completion. This prompted Agrawal to approach the court for a stay on the film’s release.

Yadav later assured Agrawal that repayment would come only after the film’s theatrical release. Trusting this, Agrawal agreed to lift the stay order. However, the film failed commercially.

Following judicial intervention, a settlement of Rs 10.40 crore was agreed upon in 2013. Though Yadav issued several cheques towards this amount, all were dishonoured, escalating the legal battle.

In 2018, a Delhi court in Karkardooma convicted Yadav and sentenced him to six months in jail. He subsequently approached higher courts and was granted relief on multiple occasions after assuring payment and settlement.

After Yadav went to jail, several Bollywood celebrities and politicians — including actors Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Sonu Sood, filmmaker David Dhawan and politician Tej Pratap Yadav — pledged support to him.

Boxer-actor Vijender Singh also stepped forward in support, offering Yadav a role in his upcoming film with filmmaker Sanjay Sanju Saini.