Preeti Jain sentenced to 3 years in prison for plotting to kill Madhur Bhandarkar

Model Preeti Jain was sentenced to three years' imprisonment term by a sessions court in Mumbai on Friday. She was convicted of conspiring to murder director Madhur Bhandarkar. The court also levied a fine of Rs10,000 on the model.

Director Madhur Bhandarkar reacted to the sentence by tweeting, 'Somethings are better left unsaid! Somethings are better left as they are. Life moves on, so have I.' 

Jain was accused of conspiring with gangster Arun Gawli's aide Shivram Pardeshi to kill Bhandarkar in 2005. This happened a year after Jain had accused the director of rape.

After a week-long probe, the police registered a case in July 2005 and arrested both Pardesi and Jain. They also picked up Pardesi's aide Shivram Das on a charge of procuring weapons for the act. 

The trial against Jain began in a fast-track court in Sewree, before moving to the sessions court in Mumbai. 

The model-turned-actress had lodged a first information report (FIR) against Bhandarkar in July 2004 accusing him of rape. She had alleged that the director had raped her under the pretext of casting her in his films. A Mumbai court had ordered Bhandarkar to face trial. The director challenged the decision with a higher court, which, too, rejected the appeal.

The director then appealed to the supreme court, which quashed the petition against him in November 2012. A bench of justice HL Dattu and justice CSK Prasad passed the order stating Jain's refusal to pursue the case against Bhandarkar. 

It looks like the case has come a full circle with Jain heading to prison.