NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, who is facing trial for the murder of her 25-year-old daughter Sheena Bora in 2012.
Indrani, who has been lodged in Byculla jail since her arrest in August 2015, approached the top court in December 2021 challenging the order of the Bombay high court on November 16 that year denying her bail.
In her plea, the 50-year-old told the top court that the trial would not end soon as 185 out of 253 witnesses in the case are yet to be examined. Moreover, the trial judge hearing her case was on leave from June 7, 2021 till May 4, 2022, further delaying the trial, the plea stated. She also claimed in the plea that being a woman and suffering from health issues, she deserved to be released on bail.
A three-judge bench headed by justice L Nageswara Rao granted Indrani bail on the grounds that she had been in custody for more than six years and there was no scope for the trial to end soon.
The prosecution, led by THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the bail plea and informed the court that the trial will not take long as the prosecution will be giving up on examining 50% of the remaining witnesses.
{{/usCountry}}The prosecution, led by THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the bail plea and informed the court that the trial will not take long as the prosecution will be giving up on examining 50% of the remaining witnesses.
{{/usCountry}}In response, the bench, also comprising justices BR Gavai and AS Bopanna, said, “Admittedly the petitioner is in custody for six-and-a-half years… Even if 50% witnesses are given up, the trial will not be completed soon. We are of the view that the petitioner be released on bail subject to conditions fixed by the trial court.”
The fact that the other accused in the case, former television executive and Indrani’s ex-husband Peter Mukerjea, was released on bail on February 6, 2020, also weighed with the court in granting her bail.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Indrani along with advocate Sandeep Singh, told the court that while releasing Peter Mukerjea on bail, the trial judge directed him to deposit his passport (as he is a UK national) and intimate the special CBI court conducting the trial for travelling abroad. The other bail conditions on which he was released required him to intimate CBI about any change in address, and to not influence witnesses, not tamper with evidence, avoid contact with his children, and regularly attend trial.
The top court directed that the conditions applicable to Peter Mukerjea shall also apply to Indrani, in addition to any conditions ordered by the trial court.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for CBI, opposed bail claiming that the charges were grave and the evidence directly pointed to Indrani Mukerjea’s guilt. He further informed the court that she was accused of screening material and the evidence of Peter Mukerjea’s son Rahul Mukerjea (with whom Sheena was in a live-in relationship) was still to be recorded.
In her bail petition, Indrani even suggested that a jail inmate told her that Sheena was alive. CBI denied this in its affidavit filed before the top court and said the suggestion that Sheena is still alive is a “figment of imagination” of the petitioner.
The agency said, “The medical, DNA and scientific report clearly established that the recovered dead body is of Sheena Bora. DNA report clearly established that the recovered skull is of Sheena Bora.”
Responding to her bail plea, CBI said in court, “The petitioner has committed the heinous act of planning and killing her own daughter. Such a gruesome act deserves no leniency from this court. The applicant committed a very serious offence and the same cannot be treated like an ordinary case.”
Sheena Bora was Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter from her first marriage to Siddhartha Das. The murder case was initially probed by Mumbai Police was transferred to the CBI in September 2015. The central agency has claimed that Indrani hatched a conspiracy with her then-husband husband Peter and other accused, including her driver Shyamvar Rai, to eliminate her daughter as she objected to Sheena Bora’s relationship with Peter Mukerjea’s son (from a previous marriage) Rahul.
Sheena Bora’s body was found based on information given by Indrani Mukerjea’s driver when he was being questioned in a separate case in 2015. Based on his information, police found the half-burnt body of Sheena.
“Bail was denied to Indrani time and again because she was projected as “the key accused” and [the CBI] claimed she was an influential person capable of tampering with the evidence and witnesses if released on bail. How long can one be kept behind bars on such claims,” Indrani’s lawyer, Sana Khan said.
“The trial court has been vacant since June 7, 2020. Obviously, the trial will take its own time to conclude. The prosecution has cited 237 witnesses in all, but examined only 68 so far,” Khan said.