A metropolitan magistrate court in city Saturday extended the judicial custody of Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamwar Rai till November 7 in the Sheena Bora murder case. The court has also directed the jail authorities to produce Mukerjea before the court on November 3 so that the court could ask her if she wants to give her voice sample or not.
All the three accused, including Mukerjea, were produced together before the court for the first time after the case was handed over to the CBI. However, she appeared very weak and after speaking to her lawyer lay down on a bench inside the courtroom even as the judge was hearing the matter.
When CBI’s counsel Kavita Patil informed the magistrate N.B. Shinde that their plea seeking consent of Mukerjea to conduct her voice sample test is pending before the court, the judge asked her why they need consent of accused if they want to conduct a test. “What if she say she do not wish to give her voice sample ” asked the judge. On this Ms Patil said that she is in jail and CBI would be required to take all the required machinery and technicians to the jail and after going there if she refused to give sample it would be a difficult situation for the investigating agency and hence they are seeking her consent. She also clarified that if Mukerjea refused to give consent then a negative inference could be drawn against her.
The magistrate asked Mukerjea’s lawyer Gunjan Mangala to ask her (who was lying on the bench) if she was feeling fit enough to step into the witness box and tell the court if she wanted to give consent, but Mukerjea said she was not feeling fit physically or mentally to decide and would not answer the question then.
On this the court directed the jail authorities to produce her in the court on November 3 and her consent would be sought on that day if she would be medically fit.
The CBI had sought Mukerjea’s voice samples for verification as it has got hold of some call records that purportedly featured her voice.
In the meantime the judge also allowed CBI’s application to further interrogate the three inside jail but considering Mukerjea’s health the judge told the investigating officer to interrogate her only if the medical officer of the jail says that she is fit to be interrogated.
Khanna’s lawyer Shreyansh Mithare complained to court that the CBI officers had conducted physical search of his client inside jail during interrogation. He said the CBI could not conduct such search, as this is the duty of the jail authorities. When the judge Mr Shinde enquired with the investigating officer, he said they recovered a matchbox and some cigarettes from him. On this the magistrate asked the CBI officers not to repeat such act and if they want then to ask jail officials to conduct the search in front of them.
