Peter Mukerjea had nothing to do with Sheena's murder, says lawyer

Seeking bail for former media baron Peter Mukerjea, his lawyer on Thursday claimed in a court in Mumbai that his client had nothing to do with the murder of Sheena Bora

Seeking bail for former media baron Peter Mukerjea, his lawyer on Thursday claimed in a court in Mumbai that his client had nothing to do with the murder of Sheena Bora. Peter's wife and Sheena's mother Indrani is the prime accused in the case.

Peter Mukerjea. File pic

Peter's lawyer, advocate Aabad Ponda, today argued in the court of special CBI judge H S Mahajan that CBI picked up sentences from the statements of witnesses shorn of context to claim that Peter wanted to kill Sheena. Peter was not against the relationship between Sheena and Rahul (his son from earlier marriage) and in fact he blessed them when they got engaged, Ponda said, adding that Indrani, on the other hand, was against this relationship. "It is because of (Peter's) 'karma' and fate that he got Indrani as his wife,' the lawyer said.

About the allegation that Peter and Indrani were in constant touch during the period when crime took place (April 2012), Ponda said these were normal calls between husband and wife. "Strangers including police officers are called by (Indrani), CBI did not find it suspicious, but calling her husband is suspicious," Ponda said.

Peter was in Rome during this period with Vidhie (Indrani's daughter from her relationship with former husband and co-accused Sanjeev Khanna) and many calls were just casual 'good morning/good evening' conversations, he said.

Indrani spoke to both Vidhie and Peter, he added. "If talking on phone is an offence, then many witnesses in the case such as police officers, psychiatrists and Indrani's personal assistant should have been named as accused," Ponda said. The arguments will continue on Friday.

Peter's bail application has been rejected once earlier. He was arrested on November 19. Other arrested accused are Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamvar Rai. Indrani, Rai and Khanna allegedly strangled Sheena (24), Indrani's daughter from earlier relationship, inside a car in April 2012.

The crime came to light last August.

According to CBI, the crime was linked to financial transactions.

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