Soon after he was sentenced to two years imprisonment in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Patiala, Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi has been granted bail, according to news agency ANI.
“I have been granted bail. We will appeal in higher court,” Daler Mehndi told reporters outside court.
I have been granted bail. We will appeal in higher court: #DalerMehndi on his conviction in a 2003 human trafficking case by Patiala court pic.twitter.com/a7YfD2dMQz
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
According to reports, Daler Mehndi, his brother Shamsher and others had been accused of illegally sending people abroad by disguising them as members of his troupe.
Around 35 people came forward after the brothers charged them heavy ‘passage fees’ to help them migrate to the US “illegally”, but had failed to do so.
Patiala Police had even raided the offices of Daler Mehndi in New Delhi and seized documents, including the case file of those who had paid the alleged “passage money” to Mehndi brothers.
In 2006, Patiala Police filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court had upheld that the singer be prosecuted as there was “sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation”.
