Hajipur: A Bihar court today rejected the anticipatory bail application of film actor Sunny Deol in a cheating case.

Vaishali district and sessions judge Devi Dayal Prasad rejected Deol's bail plea after hearing the counsels of the plaintiff and the defendant.

A local film distributor Arvind Kumar had filed a case with the court in March 2004 alleging that Deol's "Vijeta Film Company" had not returned him Rs 20 lakh, which it had taken for giving him distribution rights for the film "Gandhi". The film could not be completed for some reason and Kumar's money was not refunded despite several notices.

The judge upheld public prosecutor Azam Hussain's objection to granting bail to the film actor-producer on the ground that there was substantial evidence against him in the case and rejected the bail application.

On the direction of the court, an FIR had been filed against Deol's company with the town police station in Hajipur on March 20.

Later, the police had prayed in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Ram Chandra Das to issue non-bailable arrest warrant against Deol which it did on May 26.