Court sends man to prison 20 yrs after the offence

The CBI had registered a case against Mehta and his associate, Ashok Kumar Thakur, on November 20, 1989 on a complaint made by B Prasad, under secretary with the MEA.

According to the prosecution, the accused had obtained Rs 16,000 from Kamla Devi, wife of Gyatri Dass alias Rajender Kumar Kanda, whose passport was lost during his travel in New York in 1987.

Dass’ had earlier lost his original passport issued by the Regional Passport Officer, Chandigarh, in Germany.

When he contacted the Consulate General in New York, he was issued an emergency certificate and was asked to get his name cleared from MEA office in New Delhi. The accused allegedly issued a forged letter to Kamla Devi, leading to a complaint against her and her husband.

The prosecution examined 36 witnesses. While Mehta was held guilty, the other accused, Thakur, who had absconded during the trial, was declared a proclaimed offender.