The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, who is on trial for the alleged murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, 25, in 2012. The Central Bureau of Investigation is leading inquiries since it took the case over from Mumbai Police. According to the police case, Sheena Bora was kidnapped and murdered by strangulation in April 2012.
Sanjeev Khanna, Indrani Mukerjea's former husband, and Shyam Rai, Indrani Mukerjea's driver, have confessed to complicity in the crime. However, Indrani Mukerjea has always maintained Sheena Bora was not murdered and is alive - in December she claimed her daughter was living in Kashmir.
According to the CBI, Indrani Mukerjea killed Sheena Bora because she was furious over the relationship between Sheena Bora - whom she introduced to everyone as her sister - and Rahul Mukerjea, who is the son of Peter Mukerjea, her third husband.
A timeline of twists and turns in the case:
April 24, 2012: Sheena Bora takes leave from her job. Media sources later claimed she resigned but her family claims she went abroad for further studies and hence no missing complaint was filed.
May 23, 2012: A month later, police find Sheena Bora's body in Maharashtra's Raigad district.
{{/usCountry}}May 23, 2012: A month later, police find Sheena Bora's body in Maharashtra's Raigad district.
{{/usCountry}}August 2015: Three years later, Indrani Mukerjea is arrested on charges of murdering her daughter. Indrani Mukerjea's ex-husband, Sanjeev Khanna, is arrested in Kolkata a day later.
August 2015: Indrani Mukerjea's driver Shyam Rai is also arrested; his arrest was shortly before hers. A few days later, all three are taken to the crime scene for recreations. During the investigation, the driver confessed to having murdered Sheena Bora and said he dumped her body. He told the police Indrani Mukerjea and Sanjeev Khanna were also involved.
September 2015: Kolkata resident Siddhartha Das - Indrani Mukerjea's former partner - claims to be Sheena Bora's biological father. The case is then transferred to the CBI and the central agency lodges a FIR against Indrani Mukerjea, Sanjeev Khanna, and Shyam Rai.
November 2015: Peter Mukerjea is also arrested by the CBI.
2016: CBI files chargesheet against Indrani Mukerjea and the driver. Later, Peter Mukerjea is also named. According to the CBI, Peter and Indrani Indrani Mukerjea were equal participants in the conspiracy hatched to eliminate Sheena Bora as both were against her relationship with Rahul.
January-February 2017: The trial begins. A special CBI court charges Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, and Sanjeev Khanna with conspiracy, kidnapping, destroying evidence and giving false information, in addition to the murder of Sheena Bora.
October 2019: Indrani and Peter Mukerjea decide to end their relationship and are granted a divorce by a Mumbai family court.
March 2020: Peter Mukerjea is granted bail by a special CBI court.
July 2021: The special CBI court rejects Indrani Mukerjea's bail plea. As per media reports, she had, by then, filed at least four bail pleas but all were rejected.
August 2021: The CBI closes further investigation into the murder case.
February 10, 2022: Indrani Mukerjea filed a bail plea with the Supreme Court.
February 18, 2022: The Supreme Court seeks a response from the CBI and the Maharashtra government on yet another bail plea by Indrani Mukerjea.
March 25, 2022: CBI opposes Indrani Mukerjea's Supreme Court bail plea citing her 'heinous act'.
May 18, 2022: The Supreme Court says Indrani Mukerjea has already spent six-and-a-half years in custody and grants her bail.