A Bhopal court, on Monday, acquitted mafia don Abu Salem’s close associate and former Bollywood starlet Monica Bedi of the charges of procuring and using a forged passport.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate did not find any substance in the prosecution evidence, presented via a box-load of documents and 35 witnesses.

No witness
Monica preferred not to produce any witness or document in her defence.

“Justice has been done. You cannot imagine how happy I am,” said Monica’s lawyer P C Bedi, who, only a month back had moved the supreme court on his client’s behalf praying that the case be transferred to Delhi or Mumbai.
“At that time, due to reasons which I would not prefer to go into now, the defense feared that the Bhopal court was biased against Monica,” he said. Monica had also written a letter to the media saying that she was being framed.

Monica, who was brought to Bhopal from Hyderabad in October last year to stand trial, will now be sent back to Hyderabad, where she was undergoing a 5-year-sentence slapped on her in connection with another forged passport case.

However, during her nine-month stay in Bhopal, the Hyderabad High Court has reduced her sentence to 3 years and the supreme court has granted her bail. Thus, she is likely to be a free bird once she reaches Hyderabad.

Charges
Monica was charged under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC and section 12 of the Indian Passport Act for having obtained a forged passport in the name of Faujia Usman from Bhopal in 1998.

She used the passport to travel to Portugal along with Salem.

A case was registered against her in Bhopal in 2001 and she was extradited from Portugal.

With her imminent departure from Bhopal, the local police have also heaved a sigh of relief.