The Mumbai police has filed a closure report before the Bandra Magistrate court, stating that filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani’s FIR against film director Ali Abbas Zafar, executive producer Himanshu Mehra and the duo’s financial officer Ekesh Ranadive had been filed under “misconception that there was a fraud.”
Bhagnani, on his part, has filed a protest petition against the closure report filed by Mumbai police in the FIR registered by him. Bhagnani’s FIR alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and defamation over the much-talked-over rift concerning the 2024 film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, co-produced by Bhagnani and directed by Zafar.
Mumbai police had filed a ‘C’ Summary report recently in the case. A ‘C’ Summary report is filed by police to close a criminal case when, upon investigation, it is found to be neither entirely false nor true, but instead based on a “mistake of fact” or when the dispute is of a civil nature. It signifies that while the complaint wasn’t malicious, evidence is insufficient for prosecution.
Bhagnani in 2024 had filed a complaint before the Bandra court, which had directed the local police to register an FIR. Zafar, known for blockbusters like Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai, was accused of inflating bills and going over budget during the making of the Akshay Kumar-starrer, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.
Bhagnani said that his company spent Rs 230 crore to produce Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and, among other allegations, he claimed that he got no analytical information regarding how much of the money was spent and for what reason.
The Mumbai police filed its closure report stating that Bhagnani filed a complaint under “misconception that there was a fraud.”
According to the police, Bhagnani said the amount of fraud is Rs 9 crore, but the complainant has not given any information about how a fraud to the tune of Rs 9 crore was committed, how the forgery was committed, and what is the analysis of the fraud amount (who was paid more, which item was priced more, who did not do the work but was paid, which vendors are fake etc). He has made allegations of a fraudulent nature, the police said. As stated in the complaint, no type of fraud or preparation of fake documents has been found.
The police have requested the Bandra court that the “said crime be classified as neither true nor false.”
Advocates Jay K Bhardwaj, Pratibha Rawat and Harsh Ramchandani, appearing for Zafar and Mehra said, “The investigative agency, after completion of the investigation, did not find any criminality in the allegations levelled in the FIR. Our clients, while reposing complete trust in the investigative and judicial process fully cooperated in the investigation at every level. At the same time, during the entire investigative process, no statements were issued by our clients and the closure report is comprehensive and covers all tenets.”
