UP court sentences German citizen to 14 months in jail for visa rule violation
The German citizen, Holger Erik Misch,was released as he had already spent the period of sentence in jail during the trial
A German citizen, who was arrested on charges of forgery and violating Indian visa rules, was sentenced to 14 months in jail by a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra on Monday. The court also slapped a fine of ₹500 on him.
Senior prosecution officer Satish Verma said that chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Alok Yadav awarded the sentence to Holger Erik Misch, a resident of Berlin.
In November 2017, Misch had an altercation with a railway employee, Aman, and attacked him with a stick at Robertsganj railway station in Sonbhadra district.
An FIR was registered against him under 14A Foreigners Act (for entry in restricted areas without valid documents), 419 IPC (cheating by personation) and IPC 420 (fraud). The railway employee alleged that when he greeted Erik by saying “welcome to India”, the German hit him, though Erik alleged he was beaten up by Aman.
The government railway police (GRP) arrested him and handed him over to the Robertsganj Kotwali police. When the police checked his passport and visa, they found that the validity date of the visa was extended from 24 January 2017 to 24 June 2017.
During interrogation, the German citizen admitted his mistake and said that he changed the date by forgery. A case was registered under the relevant sections, and he was sent to jail.
During the hearing, the court examined evidence and statements of witnesses and admission of guilt by the foreign national and sentenced him to the period he had already spent in jail (14 months). He was released as he had already spent the period of sentence in jail.