Monica Bedi, actress and companion of gangster Abu Salem, has approached the Portugal government for asylum.

The move came after the Portugal high court ordered her extradition to India for obtaining fake travel documents in the name of Sanha Kamal Mallick from Hyderabad and fleeing the country, CBI sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

She has cited discrimination against minorities in India among reasons for seeking asylum.

The CBI, meanwhile, was preparing to oppose this fresh move. The agency said it would file an application through the prosecutor general of Portugal citing its law under which criminals are barred from any kind of asylum, sources said.

During the trial earlier, Bedi had told the court that she would be discriminated against by the Indian government as she belonged to the minority community.

But the CBI countered it and handed over copies of judgments given out by various Indian courts in support of its contention that the Indian judiciary was impartial.