Talwars to be tried in Aarushi murder case: HC

Agencies

New Delhi, 19 March 2011: The Allahabad High Court on Friday upheld the Ghaziabad court’s verdict and cleared the way for the trial of Talwars in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case. Rejecting Aarushi’s mother Nupur Talwar’s petition, the High Court approved the CBI’s stand that the Talwars are the prime suspects in the double murder case.

 

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar will stand trial for the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. Rejecting the Talwars plea, the Allahabad high court upheld a trial court order naming them accused.

 

Did Rajesh and Nupur Talwar kill their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj? The Ghaziabad Court will now decide the answer to that question.

 

On Friday, the Allahabad High Court upheld the Ghaziabad court’s order of the February 9 and reiterated that the Talwar couple are the accused in the Noida double murder case when 14-year- old Aarushi was found dead on May 16 and Hemraj the next day.

 

"Nupur has to appear before the court in two weeks. Both Rajesh and Nupur will have to face trial," said Anurag Khanna, CBI lawyer.

 

The Talwars had four basic arguments with which they went to the Allahabad High Court.

 

- That Nupur Talwar is not an accused in the case

 

- That a re-investigation needs to be ordered

 

- That Rajesh Talwar is out on regular bail so he cannot be summoned by a court of law

 

- That the Ghaziabad court’s order putting them on trial - be quashed

 

While Nupur’s main contention was that she cannot be tried as an accused, Rajesh’s plea was that since he had been given bail by the Ghaziabad court in 2008, he can’t be summoned. But the Allahabad High Court refuted Rajesh’s argument saying that the bail he had been given was only provisional, so now he needs to apply for a regular bail plea.

 

"Nupur Talwar’s petition has been dismissed by the Court and she has been summoned in two weeks. Rajesh Talwar’s petition has also been dismissed. We have asked them to approach the Supreme Court," said Gopal Samit, Talwars’ lawyer.

 

Two different benches of the court issued separate orders on the petitions filed by them against the February 9 order of the CBI court in Ghaziabad issuing bailable warrants against them for their failure to appear before the court and to initiate proceedings against them.

 

"There is no provision for prohibiting a magistrate from summoning a person if prima facie it appears that there is sufficient evidence against the person," Justice Balakrishna Narayana said passing the order on Nupur Talwar’s petition.

 

She had challenged the CBI court order on the ground that at no stage of the agency’s investigation she was called for interrogation nor was she named as an accused. Hence, summons should not have been issued against her, she contended.

 

The court has directed Nupur Talwar to appear before the lower court within two weeks. "She might move her bail application there itself and the same may be decided on the same day itself," the court observed.

 

Another petition filed by Rajesh Talwar challenging bailable warrants issued by the Ghaziabad court on February 28 was dismissed by Justice Ravindra Singh.

 

The couple would appear before the CBI court on Wednesday when the case has been posted for hearing.

 

On May 16, 2008, 14-year old Aarushi Talwar was found dead in her Noida home. The suspicion immediately fell on Talwar’s servant Hemraj.

 

But the very next day his body was found on the terrace of the Talwar’s residence. Then suddenly the grieving parents began to be seen as suspects.

 

On May 23, Rajesh Talwar was arrested by the UP police for the alleged murder of his daughter and his domestic help.

 

Minutes after the controversial press conference, the police’s theory came under scrutiny and the case was handed over to the CBI in June.

 

On July 12, 2008, just a month and a half later, Rajesh Talwar was freed, when the CBI said it didn’t have evidence against him.

 

The focus then shifted to Krishna, the Talwars’ compounder, and Rajkumar and Vijay Mondal, two servants living in the same area.

 

Joint Director, CBI Arun Kumar had then said, "Krishna has undergone two polygraphic test in Delhi. Narco in Bangalore and Psycho assesment test in AIIMS. On the basis of all that he has been arrested today."

 

But they too were released on bail after the CBI couldn’t file a charge sheet - the result no one knew who killed Aarushi and Hemraj.

 

Two years of investigations and several scientific tests later, in December 2010 the CBI filed a closure report citing lack of evidence but named Rajesh Talwar as the prime suspect in the case.

 

The Talwar’s filed a protest petition challenging the CBI’s report and asked for a re-investigation.

 

And then in a strange turn of events, on January 25, 2011, Rajesh Talwar was attacked outside the Ghaziabad court by Utsav Sharma, a mentally unstable person who had also attacked former DGP SPS Rathore a year back.

 

And if that wasn’t shocking enough, the court not only rejected the Talwars plea, but even said that Rajesh and Nupur were the main accused in the murders of Aarushi and Hemraj.

 

Aarushi’s mother, Nupur Talwar had said, "They have not reached the right conclusion. They have failed in their case."

 

The couple then appealed to the Allahabad High Court, asking for a stay on this order and for a re-investigation. The court’s verdict on Friday could either mean that they’ll be tried as accused or that their stand - that the police and the CBI got the wrong people - actually be vindicated.