The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday rejected a medical bail plea of Peter Mukerjea, one of the accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.
On April 3, Mr. Mukerjea’s lawyers told the court that denying him bail on medical grounds was like signing his death warrant.
Mr. Mukerjea, who has been lodged at the Arthur Road jail since November 19, 2015, was taken to JJ Hospital last month on March 16 after he complained of chest pain. An ECG in the jail had suggested some abnormality following which he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of JJ Hospital.
Test reports indicated he had suffered a mild heart attack. Four blockages in his three main arteries were also detected and he was advised a bypass surgery or an angioplasty at the earliest.
His lawyers had told the court that Mr. Mukerjea also needs post-operative care, and a stress-free environment which a jail does not provide. Arthur Road jail, they argued, is unhygienic and sending him back there after a bypass would make him prone to infections.
However, special Judge J.C. Jagdale said on Thursday that Mr. Mukerjea is lodged in a separate building. Referring to liquor baron, Vijay Mallya, the court said, “this is the same premises presented by the Indian government to a U.K. magisterial court in the case of a fugitive accused.”
Mr. Mukerjea has been charged with Section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), Section 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy), Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), Section 302 (punishment for murder), Section 307 (attempt to murder), and Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
