Actor Shiney Ahuja, convicted in rape case, granted passport renewal for 10 years
Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja was allowed to extend his passport validity for a decade by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. Following his 2011 conviction for assaulting his domestic worker, Ahuja is currently on bail.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday permitted Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja to renew his passport for ten years, even as it asserted that the case of sexual assault against him would be heard in due course.
Ahuja was convicted on March 30, 2011, for sexually assaulting his domestic worker and is presently on bail. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but had appealed against the conviction imposed by a trial court.
He later sought bail in an appeal, which was allowed on April 27, 2011, with the condition that he cannot leave India without the permission of the court.
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court was hearing an application filed recently by Ahuja, seeking the renewal of his passport for a longer period of time.
Appearing for Ahuja, Advocate Karamsingh Rajput submitted that renewal of the passport for a period of just one year is causing the actor unnecessary hardship, as some countries do not allow citizens of India carrying passports with validity less than six months to stay in that country.
Justice Amit Borkar, the sole presiding judge, observed that Ahuja has adhered to the stipulations imposed during his 2011 bail release so far. "It appears that during pendency of present appeal, passport of the applicant has been renewed six times. It is, therefore, unlikely that the applicant carries flight risk," Justice Borkar observed.
The bench further noted that "there is no violation of bail conditions" even though the passport has been renewed six times. “The applicant has made out a case for direction to the passport authority to renew his passport for ten years,” the court noted. It further said that if Ahuja is eligible, then the pendency of his appeal should not come in the way of his passport being renewed for ten years.
In June 2009, the actor's domestic help had lodged a complaint alleging he raped her at his house in Mumbai. Shiney, arrested on June 14, 2009, was convicted by a trial court in March 2011 for the offence punishable under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code.
