Munmun Kaur
Published On: January 05, 2022 at 12:50 IST
Recently, an anticipatory Bail application filed by Reshma Khan, the wife of BJP Mumbai vice-president Hyder Azam, was rejected by a Sessions Court. The detailed Order read that the birth certificate submitted by Khan with her passport application appeared to be forged.
The complaint that was filed by now retired senior Inspector, alleged that a scrutiny of records revealed that Khan entered India without any documents, and secured the documents for Citizenship on the basis of a forged birth certificate in an attempt to get an Indian passport despite being a Bangladesh National.
Khan was booked for alleging forging documents to pass off as an Indian citizen.
Khan in her Plea, submitted that it was a case of falsely branding an Indian citizen as Bangladeshi. She further submitted that her documents clearly state her to be an Indian citizen and that the Foreigners Act was invoked against her due to political intentions. She even offered to undergo DNA test to prove her case.
The Prosecution on the other hand stated that the inquiry had begun in 2017 and there was prima facie material that she forged her documents. Khan’s birth certificate showed it to be issued in West Bengal contrary to her claim that she was born in Bihar. Also, the Authorities in West Bengal negatived the claim of having any record of her documents.
The Court stated, “It is apparent that the birth certificate used by the applicant while applying for passport was not genuine and is a forged one”. Rejecting the Anticipatory Bail application, the Court stated that Custodial interrogation of the applicant is certainly necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case to investigate as to how the birth certificate was forged, where it was forged, who else are involved in the same act. It further stated that there were statements from people known to Khan’s family from past 50 years. Therefore, no conclusion can be drawn and the matter required further Investigation.