The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former media executive Indrani Mukerjea in the Sheena Bora murder case, stating that she has already been in custody for six-and-a-half years, Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and AS Bopanna made the decision after hearing a special leave petition filed by Mukerjea against the November 2021 Bombay High Court order rejecting her bail plea.
On Wednesday, the three-judge bench observed that the trial is not likely to complete soon as statements of only 50% of the witnesses had been recorded, reported NDTV. The case was based on circumstantial evidence, the judges noted.
“She [Indrani Mukerjea] is entitled to get bail as she has already spent a long time in jail,” the court said. “She is entitled to bail with conditions. We are not expressing any opinion on merits of the case which may affect the trial.”
Mukerjea had allegedly strangled Bora in a car on April 24, 2012. Bora’s body was burnt and dumped in a forest in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. Mukerjea was arrested in 2015.
Her husband Peter Mukerjee, former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai were said to be accomplices in the crime.
But Peter Mukerjea was released on bail in March 2020.
Indrani Mukerjea, however, has been denied bail on multiple occasions by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s special court, which is conducting the trial in the case.
In August last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation told a special court in Mumbai that it has closed investigation in the case.
In February, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Indrani Mukerjea, submitted in the Supreme Court that statements of 185 witnesses had still not been recorded in the last one-and-a-half years.
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