Sheena Bora murder case: CBI hasn't found any material against Peter Mukerjea, says bail plea

Mumbai: Former media baron Peter Mukerjea, arrested in the Sheena Bora murder case on  filed a bail application before the special CBI court here saying that CBI had not found any evidence against him.

"It will be heard tomorrow," said his lawyer Kushal Mor. The application contends that CBI has found no evidence to justify his arrest, though it had his custody for 11 days and even subjected him psycho-analysis and polygraph tests.

CBI itself later applied for his transfer to judicial custody (where he is now), which shows that it completed the investigation and would not require further custody, it says.

Prior to the arrest, Peter had attended the office of investigation officers duly on various occasions and his statement too had been recorded, says the application.

The grounds for arrest given by CBI are inconsistent and ambivalent and the entire approach of CBI appears "confused", it says and alleges that the central agency was trying to concoct a motive for Peter so as to implicate him for conspiracy.

Peter's wife Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyam Rai are accused of murdering Indrani's daughter from another marriage Sheena Bora in April 2012. Peter was arrested for being a party to the conspiracy.

The application further says that CBI adopted Mumbai police's earlier investigation but didn't negate the latter's "clean chit" to Peter. Police had said that Peter had no role in the crime and Indrani had kept him in the dark.

"CBI adopting the investigation of Mumbai police in toto and then arraigning Peter as an accused clearly amounts to contradiction of its own stand," it says.

The CBI chargesheet nowhere says that Indrani had hatched the conspiracy with Peter, says the bail application.

Peter's financial transactions right from the time when he was with STAR TV and later when he started new TV channels have been scrutinised by CBI and he need not stay in jail if the agency wanted to probe the transactions further as they also reflect in his bank accounts and IT returns, it says.

CBI has complete information about Peter's investments in India and abroad, it adds.

The agency's suggestion that there might be a bank account in the name of Sheena Bora with Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank in Singapore, opened by Indrani, is "vague and unsubstantiated", it says.

The allegation that Peter had any financial motive to participate in the conspiracy was unsubstantiated, it says.

"Peter did not have any bank account or investments in the joint name or otherwise with Sheena Bora. He had no financial transactions with her whatsoever," it asserts.

The bail application also dismisses the charge that Peter misled his son Rahul (with whom Sheena had a romantic relationship) about her whereabouts after her disappearance.

"Chargesheet has categorically stated that Peter was misled and deceived by Indrani Mukerjea," the application points out and adds that he had no reason to disbelieve Indrani who told him that Sheena had gone to USA (when she had, in fact, been murdered).

"Peter never had any close association or relationship with Sheena Bora," it says.

Peter used to get emails from Sheena even after her death, which shows that it was Indrani's plan to keep him in the dark, says the application.

Further, the email exchange between Peter and Indrani Mukerjea in September 2012 clearly indicate that matrimonial dispute was growing between them, says the bail plea.

Peter was in UK from April 23 to 26, 2012, with Vidhie (Indrani's daughter from marriage with Khanna), the application says, adding that mere phone calls between him and Indrani in this period do not suggest conspiracy. Sheena was allegedly murdered in Mumbai on April 24, 2012.