German sentenced to 14 months for visa forgery, released
A German man, Holger Erik Misch, was sentenced to 14 months for visa forgery in India but released after serving time. He admitted to altering his visa dates.
A German, arrested on charges of violating India’s visa rules by forging the date of validity, was sentenced to 14 months by a court of Sonbhadra on Monday. The court also slapped a fine of ₹500 on him.
Senior prosecuting officer Satish Verma said, chief judicial magistrate Alok Yadav sentenced Holger Erik Misch, a resident of Berlin, after hearing arguments of both sides, examination of evidence and statements of witnesses and admission of guilt by Misch during the hearing of the case.
Verma said that Misch was released as he had already served the sentence period in prison.
“The bond filed by the accused is cancelled. Since the accused has been in India for the last several years, it is not possible to impose a bond penalty on him. Hence, the accused is freed from the bond obligation. The period already served by the accused in jail will be adjusted in the period of his sentence. A copy of the judgment should be provided to the accused free of cost,” read the order by the court.
In November 2017, Misch had an altercation with a railway employee at Robertsganj railway station in Sonbhadra district and also attacked him with a stick.
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), he said. 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 the railway employee.
The GRP arrested him and handed him over to the Robertsganj Kotwali police. When the police checked his passport and visa, it was found that the validity date of the visa was extended from January 24, 2017 to June 24, 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.