Mumbai, June 21: An accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, Sanjeev Khanna has filed a temporary bail application before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday on grounds of the pandemic.
He has sought bail through a letter from Arthur Road Jail where he is lodged. His advocate Niranjan Mundargi said the relief has been sought based on the High Power Committee (HPC) recommendations for release of prisoners for decongestion of prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. A notification in May of the HPC entitles those whose pleas were rejected last year, to file again for the relief.
Khanna, an ex- husband of Indrani Mukerjea - the main accused in the murder case, had made a similar application for temporary bail last year too, which was rejected. Special CBI judge JC Jagdale, rejecting his bail plea last year, had observed that while undoubtedly many inmates of Arthur Road jail had contracted the virus, the situation was then better.
The order had gone on to say that no one had died of the infection at the jail and that the recovery rate at the prison is better than in other parts of the city. The court had also noted that Khanna had tested negative for the infection. It had further said that all precautionary measures were being taken at the jail and medical facilities too are being provided, while rejecting his plea for relief.
Khanna is accused of being part of the murder conspiracy and strangulating the 24-year-old daughter of Indrani, having come from Kolkata for the purpose. Former media baron Peter Mukerjea, also an ex-husband of Indrani, also facing trial in the case, is out on bail.
