Bhubaneswar, Dec 16: A local court today admitted a case of cheque bounce against actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty and his younger brother Anuprash.

The court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Bhubaneswar, admitted the case against Mohanty, who is also a Rajya Sabha member of BJD, following a complaint filed by Soumyanarayan Mishra, the director of a private company.

Tapan Kumar Harichandan, the petitioner's advocate, said his client had signed a contract with the duo to promote the Anubhav-starrer Hata Dhari Chalutha for an amount of Rs 9,20,965 two years ago.

"They made a partial payment of Rs 5,20,000 in two instalments with a promise to pay the remaining amount shortly. But later, they gave me two cheques for Rs 1.39 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, both of which bounced," the petitioner alleged.

Mishra had signed the contract to promote the film through advertisement by putting up hoardings, flex boards and kiosks. The brothers had released the movie in 2013 under the banner of their home production Vishnupriya Art & Graphics.

"We also served them alegal notice in November, but they failed to respond. Two years have passed, but they are yet to pay the remaining amount. We also approached the police, but they did not respond. The case was then registered under sections 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (more than one person committing a crime)," said Harichandan.

He said they were supposed to produce documentary evidence in the case today, but could not do so because of the ongoing strike by lawyers, who are protesting against abolition of Odisha Administrative Tribunal.

The MP and his brother could not be contacted for their reaction despite repeated attempts.

Harichandan said his client was determined to pursue the case despite the celebrity status of the MP who happens to be one of the most saleable stars of the Odia film industry.