MP HC upholds Bollywood actor Monica Bedi's acquittal in false passport case

Jabalpur, Nov 19: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the acquittal of former Bollywood actor Monica Bedi alias Fauzia Usman, allegedly a companion of jailed gangster Abu Salem, in a fake passport case.

A single bench of Justice Vishnu Pratap Singh Chauhan on Monday held it neither found any error or injustice nor did it deem fit to interfere in the conclusion of the appellate court, government advocate Shashank Upadhyay said.

Upadhyay said the court pointed out the shortcoming in the police investigation which failed to get Bedi's signature on the verification report matched with those on other documents. Justice Chauhan observed, "Since it (signature) has not been investigated, this court, at this revisional stage, cannot direct for re-investigation for filling the lacuna."

The high court dismissed the two criminal revisions against the acquittal of Bedi- one filed by the state government, and another suo motu on the basis of a newspaper report.

On September 6, 2007, the appellate court in Bhopal had acquitted Bedi in a fake passport case, Upadhyay said. The case was registered against Bedi and few others at Koh-e-Fiza Police Station in Bhopal under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120(B) and 182 of the Indian Penal Code.