Zinta appears before Magistrate in cheque-bouncing case

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta today appeared before a lower court here and secured bail in a cheque-bouncing case that she is facing.

"This afternoon Zinta appeared before the Metropolitan Magistrate in Andheri, which had issued a non-bailable warrant against her. The Magistrate granted her bail on a bond of Rs 20,000," said advocate Ratneshwar Jha, her lawyer.

Earlier in the day, Justice M L Tahaliyani of the High Court, while hearing Zinta's petition seeking quashing of the warrant, suggested that she may appear before the Magistrate and get the warrant cancelled.

The Magistrate had issued a non-bailable warrant against Zinta on September 12 as she failed to appear despite repeated summons in the cheque-bouncing case filed by scriptwriter Abbas Tyrewala.

Tyrewala, who had written the script of 'Ishkq In Paris', a film produced by Zinta, has alleged that a cheque of Rs 18.9 lakh, which she had given, bounced.

Magistrate issued a warrant against her as she did not respond to the court's summons on four occasions. According to her advocate Jha, she was unable to attend the court on previous occasions because she was abroad.