CBI opposes Peter’s bail plea

The CBI on Monday opposed the bail application filed by former media baron Peter Mukerjea saying that he was also involved in the conspiracy to kill his stepdaughter Sheena Bora because he was unhappy with her relationship with his son, Rahul. Meanwhile, Peter’s lawyer put the blame on Indrani saying that she misled him and at that time, Peter did not have any reason to doubt his wife.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh on Monday argued that both Peter and Indrani were not happy with the relationship between Rahul and Sheena. Mr Singh also said that Sheena was one of the family members and Peter was in touch with her too but when she went missing, he did not take any effort to trace her. “In fact, he tried to make Rahul believe that Sheena was fine and in the US. Also, at one point, he even told Rahul that he had spoken to Sheena and that she was fine after she had been murdered,” said Mr Singh. He added that this showed Peter had knowledge about Sheena’s murder but was misleading his son.

The ASG read out several points from the case diary and chargesheet to show how a fake e-mail id was created in Sheena’s name and SMSs were sent from her mobile phone to make people believe she was alive. He claimed that the investigation is at a crucial stage and the charge sheet has not yet been filed against Peter and there is a possibility that Peter may tamper with evidence, if released.

Meanwhile, senior counsel, Amit Desai, argued that the prosecution does not have anything to show that Peter is involved in murder. “In fact, evidence collected by the CBI itself shows that Peter did not have any idea about the murder,” said Mr Desai. He read out a few statements of witnesses and said these showed that Indrani was misleading Peter and at that time, there was no reason for him to disbelieve his wife. So, he told Rahul that Sheena was fine because he too was under the impression that she was fine and had fallen in love with another man and was with him.

About the prosecution’s claim that Indrani was scared that if Sheena and Rahul got married, all property would go to Sheena, Mr Desai argued, “I have never come across a theory in Hindu tradition that daughter-in-law will become more powerful than mother-in-law if married.” His arguments will continue on Saturday.