Sruti Vijaykumar Vs Falgun Yogendra Shroff and Anr. (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court, in the case of Sruti Vijaykumar Vs Falgun Yogendra Shroff and Anr., affirmed that the right to travel abroad cannot be curtailed solely due to pending tax-related criminal proceedings. The court upheld an order from the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate that granted permission for Falgun Yogendra Shroff, an accused in a customs duty evasion case, to travel to Paris to attend a furniture fair. The court ruled that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s (DRI) objections—based on concerns of evidence tampering and the pending application for cancellation of bail—were insufficient to override a person’s fundamental right to travel.
Case Background
Falgun Yogendra Shroff (Respondent No. 1) was accused by the DRI in a case concerning alleged customs duty evasion of approximately Rs. 30 crores through the misdeclaration and undervaluation of imported furniture. He was granted bail by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Esplanade, on August 2, 2025, with conditions including the surrender of his passport for six months and the requirement to seek prior court permission for any international travel.
Shroff applied to the trial court to retrieve his passport and sought permission to travel to Paris from September 4 to September 10, 2025, to attend a furniture fair. Despite objections from the DRI, the trial court granted his request on August 30, 2025. This decision was challenged by the petitioner, Sruti Vijaykumar, who filed a petition to stay the order, arguing that Shroff might tamper with evidence and that his bail cancellation application was pending before the Sessions Court.
