Agency

Bhopal, July 16: A Bhopal court on Monday acquitted underworld don Abu Salem's companion Monica Bedi in a fake passport case.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on July 10 had issued a notice to Madhya Pradesh government on a petition filed by Monica Bedi, the companion of gangster Abu Salem, seeking shifting of trial in a forged passport case from Bhopal to Delhi or Mumbai.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran sought a response from the state government after the former Bollywood actress claimed that she would not get a fair trial in Bhopal.

She alleged that from the beginning, the prosecution was not conducting the trial fairly and had misled the trial court by saying that the apex court had directed to conclude the case within two months.

Bedi claimed that the prosecution was fabricating evidence against her and she was denied a separate trial as per the terms of her extradition from Portugal.

"She is being tried jointly with other accused who have been charged with her for conspiracy," the petition said.

While stating that she would not get justice from the court in Bhopal or any other court in Madhya Pradesh, Bedi alleged that the trial court also ignored the principles laid down by the apex court in dealing with her bail plea.

Madhya Pradesh Police has registered a case against Bedi for securing a passport on the basis of forged documents in the name of Fauzia.

She was granted bail by the apex court in a similar case in which she was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The High Court had reduced the five-year jail term awarded to her by the trial court.

CBI had registered a case against her for possessing a passport from Hyderbad on forged documents in the name of Sana Malik.