SC Grant Bail To Indrani Mukerjea In Sheena Bora Murder Case

Indrani Mukerjea faces trial in 2012!

New Delhi: On Wednesday, Indrani Mukerjea, the former media executive accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora, will be released on bail. "We are granting bail to Indrani Mukerjea. 6.5 years is too long a time," the Supreme Court said.

Indrani Mukerjea faces trial in the 2012 murder of 25-year-old Sheena Bora, a sensational case that captivated the nation with twists and turns worthy of a thriller. She was arrested in 2015 on charges of murdering Sheena Bora, her daughter from her first marriage, with help from her driver Shyamvar Rai and a former husband, Sanjeev Khanna.

Investigators said Indrani was angry with her daughter's relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, her husband Peter Mukerjea's son from an earlier marriage.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Indrani Mukerjea, who is jailed at the Byculla women's prison in Mumbai. She had been denied bail multiple times by a special CBI court. The Supreme Court said she was entitled to bail as she had "already spent a long time" in prison.

"The allegation made against the petitioner is that she planned the murder in view of the live-in relationship of her daughter with Rahul Mukerjea, who was the son of Peter Mukerjea and his earlier wife," the Supreme Court said.

"We are not making comments on the merits of the case. Even if 50 per cent witnesses are given by prosecution, the trial would not be over soon. She will be released on bail subject to the satisfaction of the trial court. The same conditions imposed on Peter Mukerjea will also be imposed on her," the bench also comprising Justices BR Gavai and AS Bopanna said.

Peter Mukerjea, who was arrested months after Indrani on charges of helping her, was granted bail in 2020. The judges noted that it was a case of circumstantial evidence.

Sheena Bora was missing for more than three years after the murder. Indrani told friends that Sheena - whom she had always pretended was her sister - had moved to the US.

Her half-burnt body was dug up from a forest near Mumbai after Indrani Mukerjea's driver, arrested in a different case, gave a statement to the police.

He alleged that Sheena Bora was strangled by her mother inside a car.

Some 60 witnesses have recorded their statements in the trial, which started in 2017.

While still in jail, Indrani and Peter Mukerjea ended their 17-year relationship and were granted a divorce in 2019.

Earlier this year, Indrani Mukerjea claimed that Sheena Bora was alive and had been spotted by a fellow prisoner in Srinagar. That claim was rubbished by the CBI as a "figment of her imagination" and next to impossible.

The CBI recently told a special court in Mumbai that its investigations in the 2012 murder were over.