Notary advocate declared hostile in Sheena Bora murder trial

Sheena Bora, 24, was allegedly murdered in April 2012, strangled inside a car by her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, with the assistance of her former husband, Sanjeev Khanna, and then-driver, Shyamvar Rai. Her body was reportedly burnt and disposed of in a forest in Maharashtra’s Raigad district

Mumbai: The prosecution in the Sheena Bora murder case on Monday declared a notary advocate hostile after he refused to identify will documents presented in court, citing that they were photocopies and not originals. The advocate had notarised the Wills of accused, Sheena Bora’s mother Indrani Mukerjea and her former husband, media tycoon Peter Mukerjea, who is also an accused in the case.

Notary advocate declared hostile in Sheena Bora murder trial

In legal proceedings, a witness is declared hostile when they retract or contradict their previous statements, casting doubt on their testimony’s reliability.

According to his statement to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the notary advocate had previously affirmed that Indrani and Peter Mukerjea had signed the Wills in his presence, bequeathing a jointly owned Delhi flat to Sheena Bora. However, he claimed he could not recall whether the witnesses named in the Wills had signed in front of him.

During cross-examination, the advocate refused to verify the documents produced by the CBI, maintaining that they were only photocopies. Furthermore, he was unable to confirm whether Peter Mukerjea had signed the Wills in his presence, leading the prosecution to declare him hostile.

Sheena Bora, 24, was allegedly murdered in April 2012, strangled inside a car by her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, with the assistance of her former husband, Sanjeev Khanna, and then-driver, Shyamvar Rai. Her body was reportedly burnt and disposed of in a forest in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. The crime came to light in 2015 when Rai, arrested in an unrelated case, confessed to his involvement in the murder.

Following Rai’s revelation, Indrani Mukerjea and Sanjeev Khanna were arrested in August 2015, while Peter Mukerjea was taken into custody three months later. All accused are currently out on bail.

The trial, which commenced in February 2017 with the framing of charges, has seen the examination of over 90 out of 237 prosecution witnesses. Indrani Mukerjea recently approached the Supreme Court, alleging undue delays in the trial as 92 witnesses were yet to testify. Prior to this, she had sought permission from the Bombay High Court to travel abroad, but her request was denied in September last year.