Talwar couple made accused in daughter's murder case

Talwar couple made accused in daughter's murder case

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were made an accused in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi by a special CBI court which rejected the agency's closure report in the over two-year old double-murder case.

Judge Preeti Singh took cognisance of CBI's closure report and issued summons to the parents to appear before her on 28^th February making them accused on charges of murder, destruction of evidence, conspiracy and common intention to commit the crime.

The court rejected Rajesh Talwar's petition against the CBI report and sought fresh investigations to nail the culprits pointing fingers at the servants.

"The Court has taken cognisance of offences under Section 302, 201 read with 34 IPC and summoned Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar as accused in the case for February 28," CBI counsel R K Saini told reporters in Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

The dentist couple have been made accused under sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.

The CBI had on Tuesday said that circumstantial evidence points to the involvement of the couple in the death of their daughter and servant Hemraj.

"Our stand was that the probe of the Investigating Officer proves that no outsider was involved in this (Aarushi-Hemraj deaths). Servants are not involved in this and circumstantial evidence is pointing out that whatever has been done, parents only have done it," Saini had said on Tuesday.

However, the lawyer for the Talwars, Rebecca John said they will approach a superior court for striking down this order.

"You (an apparent reference to media) create an atmosphere and this is what will happen," she said in her reaction to the court order making the Talwar couple accused in the case.

"There is rule of law in the country. We propose to challenge the order in a superior court. This is not a final order. This is open to challenge. Our remedies are open," she said.

14-year-old Aarushi was found murdered at her residence in Noida in 2008. The body of the family's domestic help Hemraj was found on the terrace of the house a day later.

Talwar's counsel Satish Tamta had alleged that there were serious lapses in the probe conducted by the CBI.

"In our argument we have tried to bring out there were certain infirmities in the investigation carried out which needed further clarification. And that the investigation just cannot stop at this stage and further scientific investigation has to be carried out so that proper result can be brought out," he had said.

Tamta also stressed on the need to conduct low count DNA procedure, which involves the testing of genetic material.

The parents of Aarushi in their petition to the court earlier had alleged that there were "deliberate lapses" in the investigation besides "noticeable non-mentioning of material pieces of evidence".

They had also pleaded that further investigation should be ordered into the case "so that the culprits involved in this heinous crime are apprehended, and investigated against and brought to trial."

In the petition, the Talwars had given the sequence of events on the night of 15^th May when the teenager was murdered and during subsequent days as per their memory.

"The petitioner submits that the conclusions arrived at by the Central Bureau of Investigation on several material facts, issues and circumstances are manifestly erroneous and are based on presumptions, conjectures and surmises, not substantiated or supported by true and actual facts.

"There are deliberate lapses noticed by the petitioner, besides noticeable non-mentioning of material pieces of evidence collected during the investigation of the case, which had lead to the filing of this petition," the petition had said.