Former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, out on bail in the case of the alleged murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, has been permitted to travel to the UK and Spain for 10 days by a special court on Friday. The special CBI court said that Mukerjea can travel once within the next three months, in the period between two dates of the case.
“…as far as the conduct of the applicant/accused (Mukerjea) is concerned…it is seen that she has attended court on the dates of the trial. There is no bailable or non-bailable warrant issued against her after her release on bail,” special judge S P Naik Nimbalkar said in the order, referring to previous orders which state that the right to travel abroad is a valuable right. The court, however, set conditions stating that the right is not absolute for an accused facing a criminal trial.
Mukerjea was arrested in the case in 2015 and was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2022.
In her application, filed through her lawyer Ranjeet Sangle, Mukerjea had said that she is required to travel to Spain to execute some documents related to her account in a Spanish bank. It was also submitted before the court that Mukerjea wants to visit the UK as she is a British national and has property there which she has not been able to visit since her arrest. Her lawyer also said that since she got divorced from her then husband and co-accused Peter Mukerjea, while she was in custody, she has to update documents and submit her divorce decree. She also wants to update her will to remove Peter as a beneficiary to an estate in Spain.
The CBI had opposed her plea stating that if permitted, she can be a flight risk and may not remain available for the trial.
Mukerjea’s lawyer submitted that she is a law-abiding citizen and that when she had received a new passport after taking the court’s permission to renew her old one, she had herself approached the court diligently and deposited it. He said that hence the CBI’s apprehensions cannot be considered. Documents were also shown to the court related to her bank accounts and pending taxes and other financial matters that she needs to take care of in Spain.
The court said that there are no grounds to refuse permission. It set conditions including that she has to furnish the address of her place of residence abroad. She has also been directed to visit the Embassy of India or its allied offices at least once during her stay. She has also been directed to pay a security deposit of Rs 2 lakh and not seek an extension in her stay.
The trial in the case is currently underway with 91 witnesses so far examined.
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