Jaya Prada, the veteran South Indian actress and a politician, is fined by the Madras High Court. The former MP and two other people owned a theatre in Chennai. Earlier, the court ruled them with a 5,000 rupee fine and a six-month jail sentence for not making payments to the Employees State Insurance Corporation for more than 18 years.

The defence of Jaya Prada petitioned the Madras High Court to suspend the prison sentence in the ESI non-payment case. The judge, Justice G Jayachandran, dismissed the pleas and ordered that a deposit of Rs 20 lakh be provided within 15 days before considering any bail requests or requests for sentence suspension in the case.

"The lower appellate court shall not entertain petition for bail/suspension of sentence, unless the pre-condition of deposit is complied with and the accused/petitioner physically appears," the judge added. Jaya Prada, who would've otherwise faced arrest and detention, will be greatly relieved by the Court's decision.