New Delhi: Former Bollywood actress Monica Bedi, who was once in a relationship with underworld don Abu Salem, has moved the Supreme Court to get a passport valid for ten years. The matter has been listed for hearing next week.
She has filed an appeal against a judgment by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had underlined the "gravity" of the matter and noted that Bedi alias Fauzia Usman was facing charges of obtaining a passport on the basis of forged documents.
On Wednesday, Bedi's lawyer mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra for an early hearing. The CJI agreed to list the matter next week.
Monica was booked by Bhopal police under charges of cheating and forgery for obtaining a fake passport from Bhopal under the name of Fauzia Usman.
Bedi, by now, was involved with a gangster who was wanted for the 1993 blasts that rocked Mumbai. She was neck deep in crime and figured the only way to escape would be to change her religion and marry Salem.
She and Salem arrived in Lisbon in 2001 but the next year were arrested by Portugese police.
CBI moved the Portuguese court for getting the duo extradited. After serving more than two years in a jail in Portugal, Salem and Bedi were brought back by the CBI.
She faced two criminal cases here for forgery and cheating, including the present one in which the trial court acquitted her. However, as the police filed a revision petition against her acquittal, the case remained pending.
On her plea in 2012, the high court had allowed her to get a passport in accordance with the rules. She was later given the passport only for one year. Her challenge against the short tenure of the passport was shot down by the high court last month.
In her appear against the dismissal, Bedi has argued that she stands acquitted by two subordinate courts and thus, presumption of innocence should act in her favour.
Besides, she contended she has her aged parents living in Norway and it has become difficult to visit them.
The petition has further pointed out that she is an actor and is required to travel abroad for assignment. However, because of the passport issued for a limited period, she finds it difficult to travel abroad and suffers loss of those assignments.
Comments
0 comment