HC rejects Peter Mukerjea's bail plea in Sheena Bora murder case

The Bombay high court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of former media baron Peter Mukerjea, arrested in the 2012 murder case of Sheena Bora, his wife Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship.

Justice N W Sambre, while rejecting the bail, said he would pass a reasoned order on Thursday.

Peter, who was arrested in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation in November last year, had approached the high court seeking bail after the sessions court rejected the same.

In his bail plea, Peter refuted the CBI’s contention that he and Indrani hatched the conspiracy to murder Sheena as they were against her relation with Rahul Mukerjea, Peter’s son from his first marriage.

His lawyer Aabad Ponda argued that Peter had no hatred towards Sheena, and that he was fooled by Indrani and kept in the dark.

“Peter only objected to Rahul and Sheena living together without getting married and when jobless. But when he came to know later that they both got engaged, he sent a message to Rahul giving them his blessings,” Ponda argued.

He further claimed that Peter was kept in the dark by Indrani, who claimed that Sheena was alive and had fled from the country.

“Peter was fooled by Indrani till 2013 that Sheena was alive and was in some foreign country. Peter had no clue. He was a henpecked husband who just agreed to what his wife said,” Ponda argued on Wednesday.

He further claimed that the confessional statement of Indrani’s driver Shyamwar Rai exonerates Peter completely.

Ponda had earlier said before the court that Peter was not aware of any conspiracy allegedly hatched by Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamwar Rai to kill Sheena.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, reiterated that Peter was also part of the conspiracy to murder Sheena and that he too was against Sheena’s relation with Rahul.

“Both Indrani and Peter were against the relationship and wanted them to separate. Moreover, Peter and Indrani together were involved in several businesses worth crores of money and hence Peter would not want to do anything to displease Indrani,” Singh said.

He further argued that for over three years, a family member (Sheena) was missing and nobody in the family except Rahul was worried and making any effort to look for her.

According to the prosecution, Sheena was murdered on April 24, 2012, but the crime came to light after the arrest of Rai in another case in August 2015.