Saturday, February 26 2005 18:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: A last ditch attempt by Monica Bedi, girlfriend of underworld don Abu Salem, to stay her extradition has failed with a Portuguese Constitutional Court rejecting her plea, clearing the way for her deportation to India to stand trial in connection with a passport forgery case.

A CBI spokesperson said the group of judges of the Portuguese Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the appeal of Bedi on February 24.

With this order, the fate of Bedi was almost sealed and she could be extradited to India anytime as her jail term of two years in Portugal for entering that country illegally, had also ended.

The CBI, after consultation with its mission in Lisbon and Portuguese authorities, would work for her early extradition to India for facing trial in connection with the possession of a forged passport in the name of Sanha Kamal Mallick from Hyderabad.

The review petition of Salem, wanted by the CBI in connection with the 1993 serial bomb blast, was also pending before the Constitutional court. His extradition was cleared by the Portuguese Supreme Court last month.

The CBI had sought Bedi's extradition for obtaining a fake travel document.

She was caught in Portugal with the same passport and detained on September 18, 2002 along with Salem and two other companions.

The CBI also filed another case against her for allegedly securing another passport from Bhopal in the name of Fauzia Usman.