The Supreme Court has rejected the petition of Indrani Mukerjea, accused in the Sheena Bora murder case. Indrani is charged with the murder of her daughter, Sheena Bora. She challenged the decision of the Bombay High Court, which denied her permission to travel abroad. Justices M.M. Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal directed the trial court to conclude proceedings within a year.
Opposing the permission for foreign travel, the CBI's lawyer argued that this is a sensitive case, with half of the trial completed and testimony from 96 witnesses already recorded.
What was the lawyer's argument?
Representing Indrani Mukerjea, the lawyer mentioned that she was granted bail by the court and that testimony from 92 more witnesses is yet to be recorded. The lawyer noted that the trial court has been idle for the past four months, indicating that it might take a significant amount of time to complete the proceedings.
The issue of travel restrictions reached the Supreme Court after a special court on July 19 accepted Mukerjea's request to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom for 10 days within the next three months.
The CBI contested this order by approaching the High Court, which then canceled the special court's order on September 27. Thereafter, Mukerjea approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's decision.
In addition, the Supreme Court decided to tag the petition by former MP Vinod Boainpalli, challenging certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Indian Evidence Act, with the already pending petitions for a joint hearing.
