Mumbai, July 21, 2026: The special CBI court on Tuesday allowed the prosecution's plea to examine Narayan Prasad Pathak from Hotel Hill Top, where Sheena Bora's stepfather, Sanjeev Khanna, had stayed at the time when Bora is alleged to have been murdered.
CBI Seeks New Witness
The CBI submitted that the then General Manager of the hotel, Vernon Fernandes, had been cited as a witness but reportedly died in December 2022. The agency, therefore, sought permission to examine Pathak, claiming that he is acquainted with Fernandes' handwriting and signatures. The CBI stated that, as they had worked together, Pathak had seen Fernandes' handwriting and signatures.
Defence Opposes Plea
The plea was opposed by the defence lawyers. Indrani Mukerjea's lawyer, Ranjeet Sangle, pointed to the delay in filing the application without any explanation. Meanwhile, Khanna's lawyer, Harshman Chavan, contended that the trial has been pending since 2015 and is at an advanced stage. He argued that permitting the prosecution to examine the proposed witness would reopen the evidence and unnecessarily prolong the trial.
Chavan further contended that allowing the application would amount to an abuse of the process of law. He argued that identifying the signatures on the documents relied upon by the prosecution to connect Khanna with the alleged offence is itself a material and substantive piece of evidence that goes to the very root of the prosecution's case and cannot be characterised as a mere formality.
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Court Allows Application
The court, however, allowed the plea with the direction that the CBI's main investigating officer should be examined first before examining Pathak in the case.
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