Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has stayed the release of a Netflix docu-series on former media executive Indrani Mukerjea’s role in the Sheena Bora case while directing the streaming platform to hold a screening of it for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Netflix told the high court Thursday that it has no objection to holding a screening of the docu-series for officials of the CBI. It also said that it will not release the docu-series until 29 February, when the high court will next hear the CBI’s plea against the docu-series.
Based on the aftermath of the disappearance of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora, the docu-series was to be released on 23 February. With the trial in the case still underway, CBI had opposed the release of the docu-series titled ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’.
The trial in the case, in which Indrani is among the prime accused, is still underway and nearly 45 witnesses are yet to be examined.
Directed by Shaana Levy and Uraaz Bahl, the docu-series — being promoted on Indrani’s Instagram account — promises to reveal “bizarre secrets” of a dysfunctional family. Once released, it will be available in multiple languages: Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu.
Following her release on bail in May 2022, Indrani had last year released her memoir, which she promoted as her version of what happened to Sheena Bora. Speaking to ThePrint last August, Indrani had said that she was “very close” to Sheena and that her daughter never expressed any grievance about her being a “bad mother”. She maintained that she was being unfairly judged for decisions she took when she was young.
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What CBI told SC
The CBI had moved the Bombay High Court after a special court Tuesday dismissed its plea seeking a stay on the release of the docu-series.
In its application, CBI sought to “issue directions to [the] accused and other concerned for staying/stopping the featuring of the accused persons and the persons connected with the case in the documentary by Netflix and its broadcasting on any platform”.
The agency claimed that the docu-series may pose a direct threat to the safety of witnesses by potentially disclosing their identities, compromising their security, and deterring them from delivering truthful testimony.
It also submitted to the high court that it feared the docu-series could lead to a prejudicial atmosphere and mislead the public on the facts of the case. The counsel for the CBI contended that Indrani’s motive to feature in the docuseries and its release was malafide.
A special court which earlier this week dismissed the CBI’s plea seeking a stay had noted that its refusal was based on the grounds that it felt it had “no inherent powers” to prevent the release of the docu-series.
The special court judge held that the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 contain the remedy for the exigency of the situation, for which the CBI had called upon the court to invoke its inherent power, “which I fear is not vested with this court”. The judge later asked the CBI to pursue appropriate legal remedy for the same.
Sheena Bora case
Sheena Bora was allegedly strangled to death in a car by Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and then driver Shyamvar Rai in April 2012. Bora was Indrani’s daughter from her previous marriage.
Indrani’s alleged role in the case came to light only in August 2015 after driver Shyamvar Rai admitted to his role in Sheena’s death following his arrest in another case. An FIR was later registered based on which police arrested Indrani, her then husband Peter Mukerjea and former husband Sanjeev Khanna in connection with Sheena’s death.
Indrani was lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai for more than six years before the Supreme Court granted her bail in May 2022.
According to the bail copy, which ThePrint has seen, the CBI alleged that Indrani murdered Sheena because she was annoyed with the latter’s relationship with Rahul Mukerjea. Rahul was the son of Indrani’s husband at the time, Peter Mukerjea, from his previous marriage.
The apex court felt that since the trial would take more time to complete, Indrani was “entitled to be released on bail”. However, the SC laid down conditions for her bail, which included a clause preventing her from ‘influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence’.
Responding to the CBI’s concerns that the release of the docu-series would deter witnesses from delivering truthful testimony, the special court had noted: “The CBI has not contended that she has violated bail conditions.”
Indrani’s lawyer Ranjeet Sangle told ThePrint Wednesday that 89 witnesses have been questioned in the case so far but some others including police officers are yet to be questioned. “About 40-45 more witnesses will be examined,” he said.
Indrani Mukerjea’s memoir
Following her release on bail, Indrani Mukerjea last year released her memoir Unbroken in which she claims to have presented her version of the murder case in which she is being tried as one of the prime accused.
In the memoir, she made startling revelations about her life, including the claim that Sheena Bora was born after Indrani was raped by her own father in her teens.
Indrani has always maintained that Sheena was not murdered and went abroad for further studies in 2012. She, however, is yet to provide any credible evidence to indicate that Sheena is still alive.
The memoir also says that Indrani felt at peace after her friend Saveena told her about having spotted Sheena at Guwahati airport — Indrani claims this was the second time she was told that her daughter was alive.
Further, the memoir also talks about Indrani’s second husband Peter Mukerjea, former chief executive of Star India, and how his family “abandoned” her.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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