India, Feb. 20 -- The Bombay High Court has allowed a Mumbai businessman accused in a Rs.399.92 crore GST fraud case to travel to Europe and Indonesia, observing that the right to travel abroad was a fundamental right to personal liberty and equality.

Justice N J Jamadar permitted 68-year-old Daulat Mehta to undertake business trips to London, Paris, Berlin and Italy for 10 days, and to travel to Bali for an eight-day holiday.

Personal liberty, the court said, is not confined to freedom from arrest and detention. It includes the right to travel abroad and return to India without hindrance, it observed in its February 16 order.

Mehta, a Vile Parle resident, was arrested in January 2021 by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in a...