/news/2006/sep/29salem.htmCharges were framed by a Bhopal court Monday against former Bollywood starlet and underworld don Abu Salem's girlfriend Monica Bedi in a fake passport case. Bedi, accused of procuring a passport on the basis of fake documents in 2001, was charged with fraud, forgery and under different sections of the Passport Act, in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Dinesh Kumar Dangi, Public Prosecutor Ramesh Motwani told reporters.
The court fixed October 26 for recording evidence. Bedi, who was produced before the court under tight security, had sought a copy of the charge-sheet in English, he said, adding but since most of the court work in Bhopal is done in Hindi, she will have to get it translated by her lawyers.
Motwani said the judge will decide whether Bedi will have to appear in person or through video conferencing in further hearings. She will, however, have to remain in Bhopal till the trial was over, he said.
Bedi was brought to Bhopal from a Hyderabad jail in wee hours of October 13 and had been lodged in the central jail. She was extradited along with Salem, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, from Portugal.
She has already been convicted and sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment for passport forgery in Hyderabad.