HC refuses to grant bail to Peter Mukerjea, allows him post-op therapy

The Bombay High Court Wednesday said it cannot grant bail to former media baron Peter Mukerjea, an accused in the killing of his step-daughter Sheena Bora, but directed jail authorities to take him for his post-operation cardiac rehabilitation sessions.

A vacation bench of Justice Riyaz Chagla said it was not inclined to order the release of Mukerjea at the Asian Heart Institute, where he underwent a bypass surgery, submitted in a report to a special CBI court last month that he has recovered from the operation.

"I am, however, inclined to grant limited protection to the applicant (Mukerjea). It will be appropriate to permit the applicant to undergo post-operation cardiac rehabilitation sessions and physiotherapy at the Asian Heart Institute," Justice Chagla said in the order.

"The applicant shall be taken to the hospital under police escort for 26 sessions, as prescribed by the Asian Heart Institute," the court said.

Mukerjea last week approached the high court, seeking interim bail on medical ground. His lawyer Shrikant Shivade argued that Mukerjea was sent to jail without letting him undergo the post-operative care.

"Without the post-operation cardiac rehabilitation sessions and physiotherapy, he (Mukerjea) will die. Jail is not a proper place to be kept in after undergoing bypass surgery," he argued on Wednesday.

CBI counsel Ejaz Khan opposed the plea and relied on the Asian Heart Institute's report, which said Mukerjea was being discharged from the hospital as he had recovered from the surgery.

"The jail authorities shall take him (Mukerjea) to the hospital for the post-operation cardiac sessions. He need not be released on bail for this purpose," Khan argued.

Mukerjea has been in jail since his arrest in November 2015 for his alleged involvement in the killing of Sheena Bora, his wife Indrani Mukerjea's daughter from her previous relation.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Bora was killed in April 2012 but the case came to light only in August 2015 when Indrani Mukerjea's former driver Shyamwar Rai spilled the beans after being arrested in another case.

Indrani Mukerjea's former husband Sanjeev Khanna and Rai were also arrested in connection with the Sheena Bora killing case.

However, Rai later turned an approver in the case.