10 March,2016 06:00 PM IST | | Sailee Dhayalkar
As Peter Mukerjea was brought to court for the Sheena Bora murder trial yesterday onlookers were surprised to see him give his wife and co-accused Indrani the cold shoulder
As Peter Mukerjea was brought to court for the Sheena Bora murder trial yesterday onlookers were surprised to see him give his wife and co-accused Indrani the cold shoulder. After all, the last time they had met was last year, at the Khar police station in August. Husband and wife waited outside for more than two hours, but did not exchange a single word. Even in court, Peter continued to avoid Indrani.
Peter and Indrani meet each other after over six months, but he neither sits with her nor does he glance in her direction throughout the hearing. Illustration/Uday Mohite
Like every time, Peter's siblings Shangon Das Gupta and Gautam Mukerjea came to the sessions court as well. Speaking to mid-day, Gautam said, "Peter is probably going to see Indrani for the first tie since August. It might be a little awkward."
Peter was brought to court around 1 pm, while the other accused - Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyam Rai - were present there already. All the accused were sitting outside the court, talking to their respective lawyers and relatives.
When Peter arrived, Indrani was sitting on the other side but began walking towards him. towards the court, when she saw Peter.
She looked at him for a few seconds, as if expecting something from him, but Peter just looked at her once walked away. Indrani then walked back to where she was sitting before.
For more than two hours, Indrani and Peter were sitting outside the courtroom, but neither of them said a word to the other. Even in court, Peter sat on the bench behind Indrani and did not even glance in her direction.
After the hearing, when they came out of the courtroom, Peter began walking but changed direction when he saw Indrani standing with the escort officers and her lawyer walking to the Gunjan Mangla. Instead, he decided to wait with his siblings.
Meanwhile, CBI filed an application to interrogate all the four accused, stating they want "to extract more information or evidence, as well as verify certain facts that emerged during the investigation". The application was allowed by the court.
The driver, Rai, also moved an application asking to be shifted to another jail in Thane or elsewhere, as he is in stress at the Arthur Road jail. The judge said shifting prisons is an administrative matter, hence it was not appropriate for the court to comment. But the judge added that Rai could make a similar application to the jail authorities.
Judicial custody of all the accused was extended to March 17, when senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani is likely to argue on Indrani's bail application.
