Mumbai Court Grants Bail to Ukrainian Actor Arrested Over Allegedly Forged Birth Certificate in 2025
Court says foreign nationality alone cannot justify continued detention; actor must surrender his passport and seek permission before travelling abroad.
Mumbai , Nov 06 : A Mumbai court on Thursday granted bail to Ukrainian actor Armen Ataian, who has been in custody since February 2025 in a case involving an allegedly forged birth certificate used to claim Indian citizenship.
Additional Sessions Judge Satyanarayan R Navander observed that being a foreign national cannot, by itself, be a valid reason to deny an accused bail. The court said the authenticity of the birth certificate and Ataian’s claim of having been born in Mumbai would require detailed examination during the trial.
The court directed Ataian’s release on a personal recognisance bond of Rs 25,000, along with one or two sureties of the same amount. It also ruled that his continued detention was no longer necessary for the investigation, as the remaining verification of official records could be completed without keeping him in custody.
However, the actor has been barred from leaving India without prior permission from the court. He must also surrender his original passport to the investigating officer before being released from jail.
According to the prosecution, the Bhoiwada police registered an FIR against Ataian on February 14, 2025, under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. He was arrested five days later.
During the bail hearing, advocate Akram Kapoor, representing Ataian, submitted that his client was born in Mumbai in 1976, when his parents were residing in the city between 1975 and 1978.
The defence maintained that Ataian had been living in India for several years and had no intention of deceiving anyone. Kapoor also argued that custodial interrogation was no longer required and that the actor should be granted bail.
Opposing the application, Special Public Prosecutor Taralgatti argued that Ataian possessed a Ukrainian passport but had allegedly attempted to secure documents establishing Indian citizenship through suspicious means. The prosecution maintained that investigators were yet to establish the authenticity of the birth certificate and verify his actual place of birth.
After examining the chargesheet, the court noted that witness statements and other material gathered during the investigation supported the claim that Ataian’s parents had lived in Mumbai between 1975 and 1978. The evidence also indicated the possibility that he was born in the city.
However, the judge clarified that the relevant government records had not yet been conclusively verified and that the question of the certificate’s genuineness would be decided during the trial.
Taking into account the material collected so far and the stage of the investigation, the court concluded that further custodial detention was not warranted. It also addressed the prosecution’s concerns about the possibility of Ataian fleeing the country by imposing conditions requiring him to surrender his passport and obtain judicial permission before travelling abroad.
