Sheena Bora murder: Court rejects Indrani Mukerjea's plea to travel abroad; cites 'flight risk'

A special court here on Friday denied Indrani Mukerjea, an accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, permission to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom for two weeks, observing that the prosecutions contention of her being a flight risk cannot be ruled out.

A special court here on Friday denied Indrani Mukerjea, an accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, permission to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom for two weeks, observing that the prosecution's contention of her being a ''flight risk'' cannot be ruled out. Special judge J P Darekar noted that, with very few witnesses remaining to be examined, the trial is currently at a critical ''fag end'' and likely to be concluded in near future. ''Accused number one (Indrani Mukerjea) is facing trial for serious offences. She is a UK national, having immovable properties in the UK and Spain. The apprehension of the prosecution that she is a flight risk cannot be ruled out,'' the judge said. Mukerjea had filed a fresh plea for traveling abroad, arguing she was facing ''severe financial hardship'' because her bank accounts in the UK and Spain have remained dormant for a decade. She had labelled it as a matter of ''urgency and compelling circumstances''. Her personal presence was required for reactivation and biometric verification of the said dormant bank accounts, the plea filed through advocate Ranjeet Sangle claimed. Further, she needed to update her will registered in Malaga in Spain to remove her former husband Peter Mukerjea as a beneficiary following the dissolution of their marriage, the plea added. She asserted that as the trial is continuing on day-to-day basis, she is unable to engage herself in any gainful employment. ''She has exigency to travel abroad and financial distress faced by her continues till date. She is facing severe financial hardship and difficulty to survive,'' the plea claimed. Asserting that the trial is delayed due to the slow pace of prosecution, she sought permission to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom for a period of two weeks as well as release of her passport during the period of travel with any suitable conditions. The CBI, represented by public prosecutor C J Nandode, opposed her plea on the ground that it was ''misconceived, devoid of merits and liable to be dismissed''. She has failed to demonstrate any urgent, compelling, unavoidable circumstances and necessity of her travel, it said. The prosecution asserted that it has acted ''with utmost diligence throughout the trial''. The CBI pointed out that they made certain communications with the Embassy of Spain and U K, as per the directions of the Bombay High Court, and they had given assurance to help Indrani Mukerjea to carry out her tasks. Judge Darekar noted that while the Supreme Court had previously granted Mukerjea liberty to file for travel if the trial was delayed, she failed to show what efforts she had made to resolve her financial issues from within India since 2024, as suggested by the HC. ''Further, the accused has only submitted that she has to take appointments with the banks and municipal authorities for performing the tasks, but she has not submitted any documents or any communications with the said authorities regarding the availability of the appointments with them for the aforesaid tasks,'' the court said. The judge underlined that Indrani Mukerjea stressed on non-availability of finances for her survival, yet she deposited Rs 2 lakh in court to obtain permission for foreign travel. Considering all above facts and circumstances as well as stage of trial, the application deserves to be rejected, the court ruled. A special CBI court previously allowed her to travel for 10 days in July 2024, but the Bombay High Court paused this order and later overturned it, citing the pending status of the trial. On February 12 last year, the Supreme Court too had dismissed her plea to travel abroad, observing that there was no guarantee that she would come back. The SC had then directed the trial court to expedite proceedings in the case and upheld a Bombay HC order rejecting her plea to travel overseas. She filed a fresh application before the CBI court after the Supreme Court last month refused to entertain her new plea to travel abroad and directed her to approach the trial court for any such relief. The SC asked the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, presiding over the decade-long case, to take a decision on her application within four weeks. Mukerjea was arrested in August 2015 after the murder of Sheena Bora came to light. Bora (24) was strangled to death in a car allegedly by Mukerjea, her then-driver Shyamvar Rai and former husband Sanjeev Khanna in April 2012 in Mumbai. Her body was burnt in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district, according to the prosecution. Bora was Mukerjea's daughter from a previous relationship. The killing came to light in 2015 when Rai reportedly revealed it during interrogation after his arrest in a separate case registered under the Arms Act. In May 2022, Indrani Mukerjea was granted bail by the Supreme Court. Her ex-husband Peter Mukerjea, a former media baron, was also arrested for allegedly being a part of the conspiracy linked to the murder, probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.