The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea filed by Indrani Mukerjea, accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012.
A single bench of Justice Nitin Sambre was hearing the bail plea filed by Mukerjea in October 2020 on merits. She was arrested in August 2015 and has been lodged at the Byculla jail from October that year. Sheena’s partially-burnt body was found in the forests of Maharashtra’s Raigad District on April 24, 2012.
On August 6, 2020, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court rejected Mukerjea’s bail on merits and said, “There is no doubt that the accused (Ms Mukerjea) is an influential and wealthy person. Therefore, the possibility of influencing prosecution witnesses cannot be ruled out,” the judge said.
In November 2018, a special CBI court had rejected her third medical bail plea. Mukerjea was charged under a very serious offence. Although the majority of the trial is completed, the key witness, Rahul Mukerjea, is yet to depose. If she is granted bail, she can tamper with the evidence and witnesses. All her medical needs are taken care of and in case of any serious complications, authorities are competent enough to handle it. There is no medical treatment that JJ or any other hospital cannot offer, the court said.
In September 2017, the special court had rejected her second bail plea on grounds of “threat to life inside jail” and said, “the threats are exaggerated” and that she would be much safer inside prison. The court had taken into account the prosecution’s argument that Mukerjea has been kept in a secure jail. The prison premises are guarded round the clock and have CCTV cameras, it had said. In 2016, Mukerjea’s first medical bail plea was rejected by the special court.
The case was detected by Mumbai police in 2015 and then transferred to CBI which filed its first chargesheet on November 19, 2015. The supplementary chargesheet was filed on February 14, 2016. The trial which commenced on February 24, 2017, however is currently stalled.
