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‘Been in custody for 6.5 years’: Why SC granted bail to Indrani Mukerjea in Sheena Bora murder case
Sheena Bora murder case: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said Indrani Mukerjea already spent six and half years in custody and the trial of the Sheena Bora murder case will not end anytime soon.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Indrani Mukerjea in the Sheena Bora murder case. The court said she has already undergone 6.5 years in custody and the trial will not end soon. The Court also noted that the other accused in the case, Peter Mukherjea is already on bail since February 2020. The court allowed Indrani to be released on bail subject to all those conditions on which Peter Mukherjea was granted bail.
Indrani Mukerjea had moved her bail plea to the Supreme Court in February after the CBI court had denied her bail on multiple occasions. In March, the CBI had opposed her bail plea in the Supreme Court as Indrani Mukerjea is accused of committing the heinous act of planning and killing her own daughter. The CBI court had also said that since Indrani Mukerjea is an influential person, there is every apprehension that she will threaten, intimidate or induce the prosecution witnesses.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and AS Bopanna passed the order in a special leave petition filed against an order passed by the Bombay high court in November 2021. The Supreme Court bench noted that the case is based on circumstantial evidence and that even if 50% of the witnesses are given up by the prosecution, the trial will go on.
What is Sheena Bora murder case?
In 2015, Indrani Mukerjea was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of her daughter Sheena Bora which, however, took place in 2012. Indrani's driver who was arrested in connection with another case confessed to having murdered Sheena Bora along with Indrani Mukerjea and Indrani's second husband Sanjeev Khanna. Sheena Bora was Indrani's daughter from her first marriage with Siddhartha Das. Indrani has claimed throughout that Sheena was in the United States. Sheena Bora reportedly had a relationship with Peter Mukerjea's son from his earlier marriage Rahul. It was reported that to both Peter and Rahul, Indrani Mukerjea had introduced Sheena Bora as her sister. Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea had a daughter together - Vidhie Mukerjea. In 2019, Peter and Indrani ended their 17-year-old marriage after a family court granted them divorce. They had filed for divorce in 2018.
Sheena seen in Kashmir: Indrani's fresh claim
Indrani Mukerjea who always maintained that Sheena Bora is alive recently made a fresh claim that a former police inspector Asha Korke, lodged in Byculla women's prison in an extortion case had told Indrani that she (Asha) had met a woman in June 2021 in Srinagar who looked like Sheena Bora. Based on this, Indrani Mukejea filed an application urging a CBI court to direct the CBI to take up an investigation into Asha Korke's claim.
