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Court: cancel passport, free Monica on bail

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for the release on bail of Monica Bedi, companion of gangster Abu Salem, after it relaxed the condition of “surrender of passport.”

The former Bollywood actor, who was extradited along with Abu Salem from Lisbon in Portugal in 2005, said she could not fulfil the condition imposed by the trial court in Hyderabad as she had lost her passport. Allowing her plea to relax the condition, a Bench consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R.V. Raveendran directed the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, to cancel the passport issued to her and asked the Special CBI judge in Hyderabad to consider her release. Ms. Bedi faced trial in Hyderabad and Bhopal for allegedly possessing forged passports. While she was sentenced to three-year imprisonment by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the Bhopal Court recently acquitted her. The apex court had in May granted her bail in the A.P. case. Additional Solicitor-General Amrender Sharan opposed Ms. Bedi’s plea saying she had a valid passport.

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