Monika Bedi gets relief from MP high court in passport case
BHOPAL/JABALPUR : The Madhya Pradesh high court has dismissed the state government petition challenging acquittal of Bollywood actress Monika Bedi in the alleged fake documents case related to her passport.
The Bhopal sessions court in 2017 had acquitted her in the case. She hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab.
According to the judgment, while disposing the petition the bench of justice Vishnu Pratap Singh Chauhan said, “….On the basis of forgoing discussions, this Court does not find any manifest error or glaring injustice done during appreciation of evidence by both the courts below, hence this court while exercising the revisional jurisdiction does not find fit to interfere in the conclusion of the appellate court.”
High court observed the judgment and order of acquittal in revision could be interfered only under certain circumstances.
The prosecution’s case against ‘Monika Bedi alias Fauzia Usman’ was that Bhopal SP received tip-off that Monika Bedi had secured an international passport by furnishing false documents and affidavit as also mentioning false address in the application for issuance of passport, at passport office, Bhopal.
The SP entrusted the matter to the sub divisional officer of police (SDOP), Bairagarh, Bhopal, for an inquiry, who found that Bedi was not residing at the given address and also she furnished forged documents for getting the passport. The SDOP lodged a report at police station Kohefiza, Bhopal, against her and others registered in 2001 under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120(B) and 182 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
When police came to know that Bedi had been arrested for some offence in Portugal extradition proceedings were initiated under Indian Extradition Act,1962. The Court of appeals, Lisbon, Portugal, vide order dated August 3, 2005 and judgment dated October 28, 2005 of Supreme Court of Justice, Portugal, allowed the respondent to be sent to India, for prosecution against her for the offence under section 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC, etc.