Sheena Bora murder case: Arguments on framing of charges adjourned till Nov 15

Mumbai: A special CBI court here on Saturday adjourned till November 15 commencement of arguments on framing of charges against former media baron Peter Mukerjea, his wife Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna for murder of Sheena Bora, after Peter's lawyer sought time to prepare, a day after CBI filed its second supplementary charge sheet.

As the stage was set for the arguments to begin, Peter's lawyer Abad Ponda said the defence had received copies of the second supplementary charge-sheet only yesterday, and it had not been given statement of one of the witnesses and some other documents the prosecution was relying on.

"We need time to prepare. But looking at the evidence submitted by the prosecution, I can say that there is no case made out to even frame charges against the accused," he said.

CBI judge H S Mahajan consented to adjourning the matter but said statement of the witness cannot be given at this stage when charges are yet to be framed.

"This court assures that the statement would be provided to the accused once charges are framed," the court said.

Sheena (24), Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, was strangled in a car here in April 2012 allegedly by Indrani, Khanna and Indrani's former driver Shyamvar Rai. Sheena's body was then dumped in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district.

The crime came to light only last year when Rai was arrested in another case. Rai later turned approver in the Sheena murder case.

CBI yesterday filed its second supplementary charge- sheet before the special CBI court here.

The agency in its charge sheet countered Peter's

arguments that he was falsely implicated in the case and was not aware about the alleged murder. CBI claimed that the ex-media baron was very much in the know of the conspiracy hatched by Indrani to kill Sheena.

CBI claimed Peter was also informed by Indrani on selection of spot for disposal of the body.

According to the charge sheet, Indrani and Peter were against the "intimate relationship" between Sheena and Rahul, Peter's son from his first wife. He often used to quarrel with Rahul on the issue as he didn't approve of the relationship between Sheena and his son.

As per the charge sheet, Peter always dissuaded Khanna's daughter from Indrani, Vidhie, from having any contact with Rahul and Sheena.

Peter was initially fine with the relationship between Sheena and Rahul believing it would eventually wane over financial pressures, CBI said.