‘I just want to see open sky’: Indrani out of prison on bail
Charul Shah and Vinay Dalvi
MUMBAI: Former media executive Indrani Mukerjea walked out of the Byculla women’s jail at about 5.25 pm on Friday, nearly seven years after she was arrested for allegedly killing her daughter Sheena Bora in April 2012.
Mukerjea stepped out of the women’s jail, dressed in a white salwar kameez. Waving at the crowd of video journalists and a sizable number of onlookers gathered outside the gate, she stepped inside a Mercedes Benz and departed for her house in Worli.
“I am very happy,” Indrani said outside the jail. “I have learnt a lot in prison. I believe in empathy and forgiveness,” she added.
Mukerjea (50) on Friday furnished a personal bond of ₹2 lakh as directed by the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court a day earlier. “We completed the bail formalities at the Session’s Court around 1.10 pm and deposited the release order in the ‘bail box’ outside the Byculla Women’s jail at around 3.03 pm,” said advocate Sana Raees Khan who appeared for Indrani.
“The bail box opens five times a day -- at 8 am, 11.30 am, 3.30 pm, 5 pm and 5.30 pm. We got the release order of Indrani Mukerjea around 3.30 pm and after completing formalities, released her,” said a prison official who did not wish to be named. Her lawyer, advocate Edith Dey, said, “Nobody stays at the Marlow Apartments at Worli now. I have redone the property for Indrani to return to it.”
“Vidhi and Peter Mukerjea, Indrani’s ex-husband, stay in Goa, both at different locations. Indrani won’t be able to meet any of them due to her bail conditions,” said Dey. Dey further said that Indrani is writing an autobiography which will be released soon.
Speaking to the media outside her home, Indrani said, “Today, I just want to see the open sky from my terrace and sip a cup of coffee with my two counsels Sana Raees Khan and Edith Dey. They have been very supportive.”
“I have just been overwhelmed with the freedom that I have found again. Thanks to my lawyers and the judiciary in which I had full faith,” she added.
When asked about her daughter Vidhi, Indrani said that once Vidhi deposes before the special CBI court, she will request the court to allow her to meet her daughter. As per the bail conditions, Indrani cannot meet any of the witnesses in the case.
Confirming that she is writing a book, Indrani said, “I am writing something. However, it is not about jail. In jail, I have learned a lot. I met people from different walks of life, some were innocent, some guilty. I wish to forget everything and start a new life. A new start for all relationships. When you forgive you free yourself,” she said.
She had unsuccessfully moved the special CBI court, where the trial is ongoing, as well as the Bombay high court for bail on numerous occasions over the years, and was finally granted bail by Supreme Court on May 18.
Granting bail to Mukerjea, the top court said that she had already spent six-and-a-half years behind bars and the trial was not likely to conclude soon. Noting that the other accused in the case, Indrani’s former husband Peter Mukherjea, was already on bail since February 2020, the court allowed Mukerjea’s bail subject to the conditions on which Peter was granted bail, and anything further imposed by the trial court.
On Thursday, special CBI judge V C Barde ordered Mukerjea to furnish a personal bond of ₹2 lakh and sureties of the same amount. Accepting her lawyer’s request, the special court granted Mukerjea two weeks to furnish the sureties.
Mukerjea has been in jail since August 25, 2015. According to the prosecution, Mukerjea, together with her former spouse Sanjeev Khanna, allegedly kidnapped Bora — Mukerjea’s daughter from a previous relationship — strangulated her in a car driven by Shyamwar Rai and disposed of the body in a forest near Gagode village on Pen-khopoli road in Raigad district the following day.