Mumbai Crime: Couple Booked For Fraudulently Obtaining Passports Held By Bombay HC In ₹15 Lakh Insolvency Case; Husband Fled To Dubai

Mumbai: The Bandra-Kurla Complex police have registered an FIR against a couple for allegedly fraudulently obtaining new passports as the previous ones' are held in the custody of the Bombay High Court in connection with an insolvency case. The husband, Parag Vora, has fled to Dubai. The police have not disclosed the couple's profession.

According to the FIR, Parag and his wife Neha lived at Hira Kunj, Bhagat Singh Road, Vile Parle West. In November 2013, Ashok Bajaj and Rajkumar Bajaj filed an insolvency petition against them in the high court. In August 2014, the court ordered the couple to pay Rs 15 lakh to Rajkumar between August 2014 and January 2015. However, they failed to comply, prompting the court to issue a directive that they must not travel outside its jurisdiction. Accordingly, they were asked to submit their passports, which they did.

As per the court’s directions, the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted a report regarding the couple's immigration history in 2017. The report revealed that they had applied for new passports at the Pune passport office by falsifying that they had lost their previous ones. They managed to obtain new passports even though their original documents were held by the court. The report further said that in July 2017, Parag travelled from Ahmedabad to Dubai and did not return, while Neha travelled from Pune to Dubai in January 2017 and came back later.

Following a complaint lodged by the high court's clerk, the police have registered a case against the Vora couple under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code and provision 12(1)(b) (furnishing false information or suppressing material information to obtain a passport) of the Passports Act.

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