Two men have been awarded three years rigorous imprisonment each in separate cases of fake passports bearing same fictitious name by a Delhi court which also slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on both of them.
While Punjab resident Dalbir Singh was held here after being deported from the UK for using a fake passport and overstaying there under the name of Rajesh Vohra, Jasvender Singh, another native of the state, was held at IGI Airport while trying to travel to Paris with the same fictitious name.
Special CBI Judge Pawan Kumar Jain held guilty the two men, who claimed that they were illiterate and were unaware of the fictitious name on their passports, under various sections of the IPC.
In the case of Jasvender, the court held that the accused knew very well that the passport was forged as it was issued in the name of Rajesh Vohra.
"It also becomes clear that the accused knew very well or having reasons to believe that the passport was forged as the same was not issued in his name, but issued in the name of Rajesh Vohra. Despite that he used the said passport with intention to travel abroad i.E. Paris, which establishes that he used the said passport dishonestly as a genuine passport in order to deceive the officials posted at IGI Airport," it said.
In the case of Dalbir, who was deported by the UK, the court dismissed his contention that he could not read the contents of passport as he was an illiterate.
"Visa was only for 15 days, yet the accused preferred to stay beyond the period of visa. It is unbelievable that person who visits abroad would not be aware about the validity of his visa. This shows that the accused had malafide intention when he travelled to abroad on the strength of passport," it held.
According to the prosecution, Dalbir was held from IGI Airport here on August 28, 2004, after being deported as he had travelled on a fake passport.
Jasvender was apprehended at the airport here on May 25, 2004 while attempting to travel to Paris on fake passport.
Both the men had claimed that they procured the passports from different agents after paying Rs four lakh and Rs three lakh respectively.
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