Actor Sheezan Khan, booked for the alleged abetment of suicide of actor Tunisha Sharma, has been allowed by a court in Vasai on Wednesday to travel to South Africa for the shoot of the show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’. The court directed the police to return Khan’s passport for a limited period up to July 10 after which he will have to return it to the investigation officer. He has also been directed to give the itinerary of his travel from India to South Africa. “It is told by applicant (Khan) that, since the date of his arrest, he has lost his TV serial show Alibaba Dastaan-E-Kabul which was being aired on Colors channel and right now he is unemployed. As held by Hon’ble Apex Court in the cited case, right to go abroad is his constitutional right and he cannot be prevented from going abroad for the purpose of his employment. Therefore, if some conditions are imposed, it would serve the purpose,” the court said, allowing Khan’s plea. Khan was arrested on December 24, 2022, by the Waliv police under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. He was granted bail in February and one of the conditions for his release was to keep his passport with the investigation officer. Khan’s lawyer Shailesh Mishra submitted to the court on his behalf that after the arrest, he had lost the project, ‘Ali Baba- Dastaan-e-Kabul’, in which he was the lead actor. He had said that he is currently without a job and his family was dependent on him. His plea said that he had been offered a show called ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ for which he needs to travel to South Africa between May 10 and July 6. Khan sought the return of his passport so that he can apply for a visa to travel for the shoot. His lawyer also submitted that the right to travel has been considered an important basic right in previous orders by the Supreme Court and prayed for modification of his bail condition. The investigation officer opposed Khan’s plea stating that its probe had shown that Sharma died by suicide after he broke up with her and if allowed to travel, he may escape and not remain available for the trial. “…there is nothing to suggest that, this applicant has ever breached any of the conditions imposed upon him while releasing him on bail. On the contrary, after his arrest immediately he has surrendered his passport to the I.O. through his advocate on January 2, 2023 without there being an order to that effect from this Court. It shows his bonafide,” the court said.
