Sheena Bora murder case: CBI maligning my image, says Peter Mukerjea

Mumbai: Former media baron Peter Mukerjea, arrested in the murder case of his step daughter Sheena Bora, told a special court on Wednesday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was trying to malign his image. [caption id=“attachment_3188296” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Peter Mukerjea. PTI[/caption] Mukerjea’s lawyer Mihir Gheewala argued on framing of charges. Special judge for CBI cases, HS Mahajan, is likely to frame charges in the case — paving the way for a trial — on 17 January. Advocate Gheewala alleged that CBI wanted to malign Mukerjea’s image. Charges of attempt to murder, cheating, forgery, etc were not made out against Peter, he said. The chargesheet said there was also an attempt to kill Sheena’s brother Mikhail, but Mukerjea was not in the country at the time and still he was implicated in conspiracy, he said. Mikhail himself had never said that Peter was involved in an attempt to kill him, the lawyer said. The CBI had not attributed any motive to Peter for this either, he said. As for forgery, the witnesses did not claim that Mukerjea was aware of Sheena’s resignation letter (which Indrani allegedly forged after her murder), the lawyer said. The CBI, India’s premier investigating agency, was pursuing an “agenda” to defame Peter Mukerjea, the lawyer alleged. Advocates Niranjan Mundergi and Shreyansh Mithare, appearing for the co-accused and Indrani’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna, said section 66A of the Information Technology Act had been quashed by the Supreme Court, but CBI still pressed it. There was no material evidence to support allegations of murder and conspiracy, they said. Indrani, Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai allegedly strangled Sheena Bora (24), Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, inside a car here in April 2012. Mukerjea is charged with being party to the conspiracy.