‘6.5 years is too long a time’: Supreme Court grants bail to Indrani Mukerjea in Sheena Bora murder case

Indrani Mukerjea was granted bail on Wednesday after she was arrested by the Mumbai police on August 25, 2015, in connection with the Sheena Bora murder case. She was arrested four days after her former driver, Shyamvar Rai, was apprehended by the police with an illegal weapon.

Rai told the police that he was present and had participated in the murder of his former employer’s daughter, Sheena Bora, on April 24, 2012. Based on this, the police arrested Rai, Indrani Mukerjea and her former husband, Sanjeev Khanna, in August 2015.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and A S Bopanna took note of her counsel senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi’s submissions that she had been in jail for more than 6.5 years and also concluded that the trial is not likely to end soon. “We are granting bail…6.5 years is too long a time,” the bench said.

The court said, “Indrani Mukherjea has been in custody for 6.5 years. This case is based on circumstantial evidence. We are not making comments on the merits of the case. Even if 50 per cent of witnesses are given up by the prosecution, the trial would not be over soon. She is granted bail”.

The court directed that she will be released on bail subject to satisfaction of the trial court and that the same conditions that were imposed on her then-husband Peter Mukerjea be also imposed on her.

Rohatgi told the bench that she was not released on parole either during her years in custody. Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea have been accused of murdering their own daughter, he submitted adding this is bizarre.

But the bench pointed out that the deceased was only Indrani Mukerjea’s biological daughter.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju told the court that one of the witnesses “has nailed the lady to the hilt” and “turned an approver”. Raju submitted that it is a case where there has been tampering with evidence, destroying the dead body etc.

The case against Indrani Mukerjea is that she planned Sheena Bora’s murder as she was upset over her relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, the son of Peter Mukerjea from his earlier marriage.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the case, Sheena Bora was last seen alive by Rahul Mukerjea when he went to drop her at Indrani Muerjea’s car on April 24, 2012, the day she was allegedly murdered.

Indrani and her former husbands, Sanjeev Khanna and Peter Mukerjea, are also undergoing trial for the alleged murder. The statements of Rahul Mukerjea are part of the CBI chargesheet.