The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave the go-ahead to Netflix documentary series, ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’, and rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea to pass a stay order on the release.
A Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande watched the documentary series and said it found nothing ‘prejudicial’ in the series that could cause serious concerns on the ongoing trial in the Sheena Bora murder case in which Indrani Mukerjea is booked as a prime accused by the CBI. The court rejected the CBI’s application and said, “We did not think there is anything in the series. We initially thought there maybe something and hence we also watched the docuseries. Public perception is the least of our concerns.”
The Bench said everything that Ms. Mukerjea speaks in the docuseries was pretty much available in public domain. Books and films had already been made on the story, it said. “Whatever she [Indrani] has said [in the series], everything is in public domain. Honestly, we have not found anything that goes against the prosecution. We felt you had a genuine apprehension and, therefore, gave you the opportunity to view the series and did not let the other party argue that day. You cannot presume the accused to be guilty.”
Public perception
The court questioned the CBI and said that not a single person interviewed in the docuseries had spoken against the prosecution. “Tell us which witness has spoken which is contrary to the prosecution? In fact, it is favouring the prosecution. Public perceptions can be influenced by newspapers and everything. But the judiciary does not get affected by all this. We only go by evidence and what is produced before us.”
Ms. Mukerjea’s former husband Peter Mukerjea, a co-accused in the case, tried to intervene to put his version that he is shown in a negative manner in the series, but the court dismissed his plea and asked him to file a seperate suit if he wants to.
Earlier in the case, Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas, appearing for the CBI, submitted the concerns over the series featuring interviews with accused and some witnesses. On February 22, the High Court had asked Netflix to screen the series for the lawyers and judges, hence the release was postponed.
