Peter can't sell Worli flat, I have 1st right: Indrani Mukerjea

Indrani Mukerjea has sent a legal missive to Marlow housing society in Worli, where she shared a 3,000 sq ft fifth floor duplex flat with husband Peter, telling them she has first right over the property and that nobody can sell it without her consent.

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Those were the days: Peter and Indrani Mukerjea

Peter is said to be looking to sell the flat to pay the bills of his seven-member legal team, which includes some of the most expensive criminal lawyers in the country. The couple had gifted the flat to Vidhie Mukerjea, Indrani's daughter from an earlier marriage, as a Gift Deed on January 7, 2011.

Peter and Indrani: Caught on candid camera. File pics

Sources close to the family said that Indrani's lawyers Mahesh Jethmalani and Gunjan Mangla on Tuesday sent the three-page letter to the secretary of Marlow Co-operative Housing Society in Pochkhanawala Road in Worli. The flat is estimated to be worth Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore. Both Indrani and Peter are behind bars in connection with the murder of Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter from her first marriage.

Read Story: Indrani taken to her Worli home a day before custody ends

It is learnt that the letter says that, according to the clauses of the gift deed to Vidhie, it is "clear that the same was subject to an express reservation of Indrani's right to continue to reside in the said flat during her lifetime without any hindrance from the Donee (a person who receives a gift) or her agents, servants or any other person lawfully claiming."

Sources said these clauses "clearly enumerate that a right to reside in the said flat during her lifetime was expressly reserved by Indrani", irrespective of Vidhie Mukerjea being gifted the flat. They added that selling the house despite the presence of this clause will amount to obstruction in legal terms.

Sources added that the letter says that "any sale and/or attempted sale and/or gift or rent of the flat will amount to a hindrance by the Donee or her agents, servants or any other person lawfully claiming on her behalf or in trust for her", in Indrani's right to reside in the flat during her lifetime.

Peter, who the CBI booked for murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence, has filed for bail for a second time at the sessions court. The CBI is likely to file its reply on March 31.