New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to accept a fresh petition filed by Indrani Mukerjea, who is accused of killing her daughter, Sheena Bora, while seeking to travel abroad.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Koteswar Singh told senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Mukerjea, that the apex court has already asked it to move the trial court, where proceedings against her are pending, to seek any relief.
Jethmalani said that last year the Supreme Court did not decide her application to travel abroad on merit, but there is some urgency now.
The bench said that last year’s order was only intended to enable the petitioner to file an application before the lower court, and not before the Supreme Court.
It ordered: “In view of the above, we grant liberty to the petitioner to file an application before the trial court, which, if filed, will be decided in accordance with our order. In view of the urgency, the application may be disposed of within four weeks.”
On February 12 last year, the Supreme Court rejected the request of Mukerjea, a former media executive, to travel abroad, stating that there was no guarantee that she would return.
The lower court ordered proceedings in the case to be conducted within a year and upheld the Bombay High Court’s order dismissing her petition.
Noting that the trial against her had reached an advanced stage, the Supreme Court ordered the lower court to expedite the hearing and conclude it within a year.
The Supreme Court granted freedom to Mukerjea to approach the lower court for any compensation related to traveling abroad.
The travel restrictions were brought before the Supreme Court last year after a special court on July 19, 2024 allowed Mukerjea’s request to visit Spain and the UK for 10 days.
However, the Bombay High Court intervened and quashed the order on September 27, 2024, after the CBI filed an appeal.
Mukerjea then moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s order.
This year, she filed a new petition for permission to travel abroad.
Mukerjea was arrested in August 2015 after Bora’s murder came to light. The Supreme Court granted her bail in May 2022 after she spent more than six years in custody.
Mukerjea denied the allegations.
Bora, 24, was strangled to death in a car in Mumbai in April 2012, by Mukerjea, her then-driver, Shyamvar Rai, and her ex-husband, Sanjeev Khanna. Her body was later cremated in a forest in neighboring Raigad district, according to the prosecution.
Bora was Mukerjea’s daughter from her previous relationship.
The murder was uncovered when Ray reportedly spilled the beans while being questioned by police after being arrested in a separate case under the Arms Act.
Mukerjea’s ex-husband, Peter Mukerjea, was also arrested for allegedly being part of a conspiracy linked to the murder, which was investigated by the CBI.
All the accused are currently released on bail.
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