New Delhi, March 31: Delhi High Court today allowed Jessica Lal murder witness Bina Ramani to leave for Phuket in Thailand to attend a niece’s wedding.

But the socialite, against whom Delhi police have issued a lookout notice, was asked to submit as security the passports of her husband George Mailhot and daughter Malini Ramani, as well as a deposit of Rs 5 lakh and property documents.

Bina (in picture above) has been asked to return to India on April 3 and report to Delhi police on April 4.

Bina and Malini, a fashion designer, had been charged with washing off the bloodstains after Jessica’s murder at Tamarind Court, a restaurant owned by them. Bina was questioned by the police last week after a fresh case was registered accusing unnamed persons of destroying evidence.

The curb on the Ramanis’ foreign travel came on March 15, when the police issued the lookout notices against all the witnesses, asking airports to inform the police if anyone named in the list tried to leave the country.

On March 24, a high court judge refused to stay or quash the lookout notice against Bina and allow her to fly to Thailand. Bina had then approached the bench of Chief Justice Markandeya Katju, who assigned the matter to the two-judge bench that gave today’s ruling.

Police counsel Mukta Gupta opposed Bina’s appeal, underscoring that the socialite held a British passport and claiming she and Mailhot had not registered their marriage.

Gupta argued that Bina was “not merely a witness but a strong suspect believed to have destroyed vital evidence and tampered with the scene of offence”. She added that there was no point allowing Bina to go to Phuket anyway as the wedding ceremony would be over by Friday evening.

Advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who represented Bina along with other leading lawyers such as Ram Jethmalani and Rajiv Nayar, said it was her fundamental right to travel abroad.