FPJ Legal: Session court rejects bail plea of Mumbai BJP leader's wife Reshma Khan in forgery case

A sessions court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of Reshma Khan, wife of Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party leader Haider Azam, on whom a complaint is lodged for allegedly procuring an Indian passport, being a Bangladeshi.

Khan was earlier given temporary protection from arrest by the court, pending the decision on her plea. Advocate for the complainant Nitin Satpute had filed an intervention application in the matter, opposing the grant of relief to her.

On Monday, after the court refused her anticipatory bail, Khan through her advocate sought that she be given interim protection for two weeks, so that she can approach the Bombay High Court for relief. The court did not entertain this plea and refused to grant protection, considering the factual background and the order it had passed with reasons recorded in the order.

The case was lodged by retired police inspector Deepak Kurulkar against Khan and state’s Additional Director General of police Deven Bharti and Assistant Commissioner of Police Deepak Phatangare. The complaint on the police officials was for blocking action against Khan back in 2017.

The complaint alleges that she illegally entered the country from neighbouring Bangladesh and submitted fake documents to get a passport. As per the retired police inspector’s probe in 2017, who was in the Special Branch of the city police, she was not an Indian national.

The complaint was lodged for offences of forgery, common intention and under provisions of the Foreigners Act.