Mumbai Court Rejects CBI Plea for Fresh Bank Records in Sheena Bora Trial
A special court in Mumbai has rejected a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to summon fresh bank records and examine bank officials in the Sheena Bora murder trial. Special Judge Dr JP Darekar ruled on Friday that the prosecution cannot be allowed a second chance to correct shortcomings in its evidence at this late stage of the trial, which has been pending since 2015.
The prosecution, represented by Special Public Prosecutor CJ Nandode, had requested the court to direct four banks to produce fresh account statements of the deceased Sheena Bora and the approver Shyamvar Rai. The CBI also sought to examine the respective branch managers to obtain the mandatory legal certificates required to make the bank records admissible as evidence.
The CBI admitted that while the bank statements had previously been presented to the court through witnesses, they were submitted without the legally required certificates. Consequently, the documents were only marked as articles rather than being formally admitted as evidence.
Defense advocates Ranjeet Sangle, representing Indrani Mukerjea, and Harshman Chavan, representing Sanjeev Khanna, strongly opposed the CBI's application. They argued that the prosecution was attempting to fix gaps in its case after the bank officials had already been examined and cross-examined. The defense further argued that this omission was highlighted during cross-examination, and the CBI failed to explain why it did not obtain the certificates during the extensive investigation and trial period.
In his rejection order, Special Judge Darekar noted that the prosecution had ample time during the investigation to collect the relevant certificates but failed to do so. He stated that the court's power to summon additional documents and witnesses must be exercised cautiously and not routinely.
The judge observed that allowing the application would effectively reopen the evidence stage and prolong the trial, which is currently in its final stages after the examination of 146 prosecution witnesses.
The case involves the alleged murder of Sheena Bora in April 2012, which allegedly involved her mother Indrani Mukerjea, Sanjeev Khanna, and driver Shyamvar Rai. The trial began after Rai's arrest in 2015. All accused are currently out on bail.
