Rajkumar Santoshi’s lawyer Binesh Patel has confirmed that the filmmaker has been granted bail in the cheque-bouncing case and that the court has postponed the judgement for the next 30 days.

During a hearing in the case on Saturday, the court ordered a two-year jail sentence for Santoshi while asking him to repay double the amount that he allegedly owes to a businessman, who claims that the cheques issued to him by the filmmaker bounced. The Jamnagar court in Gujarat has allowed Santoshi a 30-day stay to appeal against the order. It will allow Santoshi to challenge the verdict in a higher court.

In the same context, the filmmaker’s advocate Patel stated that they will appeal against the magisterial court’s judgement. As per a statement from him, “The court has stayed its judgement for 30 days and granted Mr Santoshi bail after we sought time to appeal against the judgement at a higher forum.”

Patel added, “The prosecution didn’t produce any documentary evidence to prove that Mr Santoshi had taken money at all. Instead, a third party had provided 11 altered cheques of Rs. 10 lakh each, which Mr Santoshi was not aware of.”

The director, who has helmed films such as Damini (1993), Ghatak: Lethal (1996) and Andaz Apna Apna (1994), is currently working on his next with actor Sunny Deol, produced by actor Aamir Khan.