MUMBAI: Former media baron Peter Mukerjea was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday in the Sheena Bora murder case, wherein he was the main accused. However, despite the bail, Peter Mukerjea won't be able to walk out of the jail, as the Court stayed the implementation of its order for six weeks to enable the CBI to file an appeal in the matter.
Court granted the bail on grounds that there was no prima facie evidence of his involvement in the crime.
Peter Mukerjea is accused of murdering Sheena Bora, who was the daughter of his wife Indrani from a previous relationship. He has been in jail for the past four years.
Justice Nitin Sambre, who granted him bail on a surety of Rs two lakh, said the bail was granted on the “merits of the case and his medical conditions”.
Peter Mukerjea won’t be allowed to contact his children Rahul and Vidhi.
Sheena Bora (24) was allegedly killed on April 24, 2012. The killing came to light in 2015 when Indrani Mukerjea’s driver Shyamwar Rai, who had helped them dispose of the body, was arrested in another case. Rai later turned approver. Peter Mukerjea was arrested in the case in 2015 and he then moved the bail application before special CBI Judge JC Jagdale.
According to the CBI, Peter Mukerjea along with Indrani Mukerjea and her previous husband Sanjeev Khanna entered into a criminal conspiracy to kill Sheena Bora.
While opposing his bail plea the CBI had told the special court that Peter Mukerjea is the “silent killer” of Sheena Bora.
Opposing his bail plea, special public prosecutor Bharat Badami argued that the CBI has sufficient evidence to prove Peter’s role in the murder conspiracy.
“Peter was knowing everything...he was not a statue of the family. He took no step when Rahul was desperately asking about Sheena....Peter is silent killer of Sheena,” the CBI lawyer had said.
One of the arguments that Peter Mukerjea had forwarded in his defence was that he was not in India when Sheena Bora was murdered.
Countering this, the CBI had argued that Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed was in Pakistan when the 26/11 Mumbai attacks took place, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved in the attacks.
“So, even if Peter Mukerjea was in London (at the time of the murder) it doesn't mean he was not part of the criminal conspiracy,” the CBI had argued.
The CBI has claimed a financial dispute led to the killing of Sheena Bora.