New Delhi: A special CBI court in Mumbai on Tuesday began trial and framed charges against prime accused Indrani Mukerjea and her husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case.
Both Indrani and Peter have been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy by the CBI court. Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna has also been booked for abetting Sheena's murder.
The court heard the arguments of Indrani, Peter and Sanjeev, explained the charges framed against them. It also asked the accused to consult their advocate and say if they are pleading guilty or not. All three accused pleaded not guilty in writing. Peter went to the witness box and said he wants to put his version of the case on the next date.
Judge H S Mahajan said Peter will get a chance once all the evidence is submitted and kept the matter for trial to begin on February 1, 2017.
All the three accused were charged under IPC sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping), 302 (murder), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 203 (giving false information in respect of an offence) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).
Additionally, Indrani and Sanjeev were charged under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) for plotting to kill her son and Sheena's brother Mikhail Bora.
Mikhail had earlier alleged that Indrani had spiked his drink on the same day when Sheena was killed.
Besides, Indrani was also charged under IPC section 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record).
Speaking to media, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said," Minimum punishment in the case is life imprisonment. The next procedure will be for the prosecution to prove the charges."
Indrani, Khanna and Shyamvar Rai (Indrani's driver and co-accused) have been accused of strangling 24-year-old Sheena — Indrani's daughter from a previous relationship whom she passed off as her sister — in a car on April 24, 2012. Her burnt body was dumped in a bag in the forests in Raigad district near Mumbai.
The trio was arrested in August 2015, while Peter was arrested on November 19, 2015.
The CBI had on December 19, 2016 started arguments on framing of charges in the sensational Sheena Bora case, saying it was her relationship with Rahul, Peter's son from earlier marriage, that led to her murder.
Special public prosecutors Bharat Badami and Kavita Patil had contended that the trouble started when the accused learnt that Rahul (Peter's son with first wife) and Sheena (Indrani's daughter from earlier relationship) were in a relationship.
"There was total and full support to Vidhie (daughter of Indrani and Khanna) and total disregard towards Sheena," Badami had argued.
He had also told Judge Mahajan that the I-T returns of Indrani between 2005-08 showed she gave more money to Vidhie than to Sheena.
The reason for the murder was property, he said, adding that CBI added a charge of forgery against the accused in connection with a suspicious sale of property in Delhi.
Indrani had a soft corner for Vidhie and was worried that if Rahul-Sheena marriage materialised, all Peter's property will go to Rahul, the prosecutor said.
Badami also said Peter was fully aware of the crime.
On her return to India on April 23, 2012, Indrani and others planned to kill both Sheena and her brother Mikhail and even decided the place for disposal of the bodies, but Mikhail luckily escaped, Badami said.
On the day of murder, after Rahul dropped Sheena at a place (in Mumbai) where Indrani was waiting for her, Indrani hugged her daughter. No previous instance where Indrani may have hugged Sheena came to light in the probe, he said.
Indrani purchased bottles of water, vodka and some sleep inducing medicines, which were given to Sheena. "After Sheena became drowsy, Indrani killed her and said (to the co-accused) that 'Sheena got her 3BHK flat', he said.
Investigators had earlier said that Sheena had demanded a 3BHK flat from Indrani.
As to Peter's defence that he was not aware of the conspiracy, Badami said Indrani had had a talk with him (on phone). "Never before the incident they had such a long chat, it was not ordinary call but she was reporting (about the murder) to Peter," Badami had earlier argued.
According to CBI's chargesheet, the murder was the fallout of a financial dispute in the family. Sheena's relationship with Rahul, Peter's son from an earlier marriage, had reportedly led to fears within the family that she would gain control of a major portion of the wealth after marriage.
Trial was set to begin in the Sheena Bora murder case on October 5, 2016, more than a year after Indrani was arrested for allegedly killing daughter Sheena Bora in 2012.
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