By IANS
Hyderabad : A court here Thursday rejected the bail plea of Monica Bedi, former Bollywood starlet and companion of mobster Abu Salem, after she failed to produce the original passport documents.
"The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has asked us to clarify with the Supreme Court whether she can be released with an affidavit saying she lost her passport. We will go to the Supreme Court on Friday and once they give us a green signal, we will come back here," Prem Kumar Bedi, her father, said.
Monica said she lost her passport five years ago.
She was absolved by a Bhopal court in a fake passport case as the police had failed to produce adequate witnesses against her. She faces similar charges in Hyderabad too.
Earlier, Prem Kumar Bedi, who arrived here Thursday from Norway to complete formalities for her bail, had urged police to provide her security from jail to the airport.
Prem Kumar said his daughter required security saying she faced threat from 'some people'.
The Supreme Court in May this year had granted bail to Monica in a fake passport case but she could not be released due to a similar case pending against her in Bhopal. However, the order by a Bhopal court acquitting her in the second case cleared the way for her release.
Monica, who was brought here Wednesday night by the New Delhi-Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Express, was taken straight to the Chanchalguda central jail.
She was convicted Sep 29 last year in a fake passport case here and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, which was later reduced to two years by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. She was away in Bhopal for nine months facing trial in a similar case there.
Monica has already announced her plans to return to films if she is released. When asked about her plans, Prem Kumar said he did not know anything about it. "She has to take a decision to act in films or not," he told reporters.
Prem Kumar, a businessman, was elated on her daughter's acquittal. "The entire family is happy. She is innocent and this is proved by the court verdict," he said.
Three former government employees were also sentenced to three years imprisonment last year along with Bedi for helping her acquire a passport under a fictitious name in 2001 by furnishing a false residential address at Kurnool town in Andhra Pradesh.
Bedi was extradited from Portugal Nov 11, 2005, along with Abu Salem. She was brought to Hyderabad the same day.