Singer and composer Palash Muchhalwho has been courting controversy for the past couple of days on charges of cheating and caste-based abuse, shared photos of his visit to Khatu Shyam Ji and Salasar Balaji temple on social media.Posting pictures of himself offering prayers to God, Muchhal captioned the message, “Jahan sir jhuka, wahan sukoon mila.” He added, “Khatu Shyam Ji – Salasar Balaji – Jeevan Mata Ji.”The singer, however, turned off the comments, because the message comes from the fact that he was involved in a case of fraud. According to a report in Free Press Journal, a case has been registered against the singer-composer for cheating and crimes under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The complaint was reportedly filed by Vidnyan Man, a childhood friend of cricketer Smriti Mandhana, alleging financial fraud and caste-based abusive remarks during dealings related to a film project.According to the complaint, Mane accused Muchhal of taking Rs 25 lakh as part of an investment related to a film project and then not returning the money. According to NDTV, the complainant said in the statement, “On November 22, 2025, when he was in Sangli, I met him personally, along with my friends. In that meeting, we realized that we were deceived. At the same time, he made very insulting and casteist remarks about a particular community, which I have repeated in detail in my FIR are not appropriate.“In January 2026, Man submitted a request for an FIR against Muchhal to the Sangli Superintendent of Police. According to the complaint, Muchhal met Mane in Sangli on December 5, 2023. As he reportedly expressed interest in investing in film production, Muchhal said he could invest in his next project ‘Nazaria’ as a producer, the complainant alleged.After the film released on OTT platforms, Man said Muchhal told him that he could earn him a profit of Rs 12 lakh with an investment of Rs 25 lakh, and also offered him a role in the film. They met twice after that, and Mane reportedly paid her a total of 40 lakhs from March 2025. The project, however, remained incomplete, and Man asked for his money back, only to receive no response. He then approached the Sangli police.The singer then announced in a post that she had filed a defamation lawsuit against Mane over the “false” allegations. In the Instagram post, he wrote, “My lawyer Shreyansh Mithare has sent Sangli-based Vidnyan Maneri a defamation legal notice of Rs 10 crore for false, offensive and highly defamatory allegations made deliberately to malign my reputation and character.”
