Bangladeshi woman gets 14 months in jail for getting fake Aadhaar card made

Last March, Sardar was arrested by Athwalines police, which recovered a Bangladeshi passport issued to her on September 28, 2022 for 10 years, Aadhaar card and Covid-19 vaccination certificate, among others. The police also found valid Bangladeshi visa from October 30, 2022 to October 19, 2023.

Sardar was booked under sections 465 (forgery), 470 (forged document), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document), 467 (forgery for valuable security) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. Sardar, who used to stay alone, is at present lodged at Surat Central Jail.

In his arguments before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vijaykumar Barot, public prosecutor Pawan Shah said that Sardar got the Aadhaar card made with fake documents to seek Indian citizenship.

Alleging that there is a rise in illegal immigrants entering India from Bangladesh, he added, “If leniency is shown to the accused, it will motivate others to illegally enter India and make Indian citizenship documents with forged document…”

The court in its order said that Sardar is being convicted under Section 465 of the IPC for seven months and Section 471 of the IPC for another seven months. After the 14 months, she should be sent to Bangladesh and a report in this regard should be submitted to the court, it added.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Pawan Shah said, “We are not satisfied with the order… Once we go through the court order in detail, we will decide our further action.”

Despite repeated attempts, defense lawyer A N Dantani could not be contacted for a comment.