HC strikes down CBI court order allowing Indrani Mukherjea travel to Europe

The Bombay High Court denied Indrani Mukerjea's request to travel abroad for banking tasks, stating they can be done in India amid her ongoing murder trial.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday struck down a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, allowing Indrani Mukerjea, an accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, to travel to Europe to complete some banking formalities and to update her will.

HT Image

A single judge bench of justice Shyam Chandak struck down the special court order, observing that all the chores mentioned by the former media executive could be completed from India. “The petition by CBI is allowed. If Indrani seeks to perform the work from India, the statutory authorities will support her according to law. No reasonable ground is made out for permitting her to travel abroad. I have not made any comment on the merits of the case or the argument of possibility of absconding, etc.,” the court said.

Mukherjea, through her advocate Ranjit Sangle, had applied for permission to travel to England and Spain stating that her presence there was essential for various legal and financial matters including settling taxes, updating her will and reactivating a joint bank account in Spain.

The Central agency had opposed the plea, contending that being a British citizen, Indrani may not return to face the trial. Indrani is facing trial along with her two ex-husbands — former media baron Peter Mukerjea and Sanjeev Khanna — for allegedly killing her daughter Sheena Bora.

Indrani rebutted this argument by stating that she was a UK citizen and could not be disallowed from visiting the country. She further contended that she had her passport twice after her release and could have left India without informing anyone.

Relying on the statements of the Indian Embassy in the UK and Spain, Ganesh Shirsat, the special prosecutor for the CBI, argued that the tasks mentioned by Mukherjea could be done from India itself. A detailed copy of the judgement is yet to be uploaded online.

A special court in Mumbai on 19 July had granted Indrani Mukerjea permission to travel abroad. The court had allowed her to travel once to Europe (Spain and the United Kingdom) for ten days in the next three months.

The CBI had petitioned the high court to quash the lower court order. The high court on 23 July granted an ad-interim stay on the operation of lower court’s order.

Indrani Mukerjea was arrested in 2015 for the purported abduction and killing of her daughter Sheena Bora in April 2012. Mukerjea, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, and driver Shyamwar Rai were charged with killing Sheena, her daughter from her first relationship. They allegedly dumped her body in a forest in the neighbouring Raigad district.

The CBI claimed that Indrani killed Sheena because she was upset about her relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, the son of her ex-husband and erstwhile media baron Peter Mukerjea, who is also charged in the case. The Supreme Court granted her bail on May 18, 2022.