The Bombay High Court has put an interim stay on the travel of former media executive Indrani Mukherjee, the main accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, to Europe. Indrani Mukherjee, accused in this sensational murder case of 2012, is currently out of jail on bail. He had sought permission from the court to go abroad, which was approved by the special court. But while hearing the CBI petition, the High Court has put a stay on it.
Justice SV Kotwal said that the petition filed by CBI against the order of the special court will be heard before the regular bench of Justice SC Chandak on July 29. He was not available on Tuesday. CBI had demanded immediate hearing on the petition before the alternate bench of Justice Kotwal. However, he said that it would be better if the regular bench hears this petition.
The court said that the order of the special court is stayed till the hearing before the regular bench. Indrani Mukherjee’s lawyer Ranjit Sangle said that she cannot travel anyway, because she does not have a passport at present. On July 19, the special CBI court had allowed Indrani to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom in Europe for ten days intermittently during the next three months.
CBI lawyer Shriram Shirsat told the court that Indrani Mukherjee is the main accused in a murder case. Hearing on this is still going on. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to allow the accused to leave the country at this time. While granting permission, the special court had imposed some conditions on Indrani. It said that she would be present at the office of the Indian Embassy or its associated diplomatic mission at least once during her visit.
In April 2012, Indrani Mukherjee, her then driver Shyamvar Rai and ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna were accused of murder of Sheena Bora in Mumbai. According to the prosecution, Sheena’s body was burnt in a forest in Raigad district. Sheena was the daughter of Indrani Mukherjee. Shyamvar Rai was arrested in this case in the year 2015. He had revealed Indrani’s name during interrogation, after which he was arrested.