Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: June 23, 2022 at 17:39 IST
In the Sheena Bora “murder” case, the accused objected, stating that proper procedure had not been followed to admit evidences of the conversations recorded allegedly by Bora’s fiance Rahul Mukerjea with Indrani Mukerjea and her then husband Peter Mukerjea days after the alleged murder. Indrani also submitted before the court that the Assam state government’s issued birth certificate for Bora is a scanned copy of a coloured copy rather than an original public document.
The special court heard the accused’s arguments on a number of applications on Wednesday, taking note of their objection to exhibiting specific information that surfaced during Rahul’s deposition last week. In their argument, the defence attorneys said that the CBI did not follow protocol when it gave them transcriptions of the alleged conversations that were played in court last week. Although Indrani has a lawyer on record, but the court also heard arguments about whether she can cross-examine Rahul and represent herself.
Manoj Chaladan, a CBI prosecutor, said that if the accused has chosen to represent herself throughout the trial, the agency has no choice but to concede since she has a right to a fair trial. Indrani told the court that her lawyer is very busy and she did not want the trial to be delayed as a result. Indrani said to the court, she will not hold the court responsible for any consequence that may arise due to her decision to represent herself.On Tuesday, the court will rule on the pleas.