AARUSHIHEMRAJ MURDER CASE: HC LIKELY TO DELIVER VERDICT TODAY

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court is likely to pronounce its verdict in Aarushi-Hemraj murder case on Thursday.

The bench comprising justice BK Narayana and justice AK Mishra had, on September 7, reserved its judgement in the appeal filed by the parents of Aarushi – Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar –who were convicted and sentenced for life imprisonment by the CBI court in Ghaziabad.

In November 2013, the doctor couple were convicted in the double murder case of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

The double murder took place in the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008.

When Aarushi’s body was found on May 16, the missing servant Hemraj was considered to be the main suspect. However, Hemraj’s partially decomposed body was recovered the next day on the terrace of Talwars’ residence.

The police claimed it to be a case of honour killing and named Aarushi’s parents as prime suspects. The Talwars, however, accused the police of falsely implicating them to hide their botched-up investigation.

The case was then transferred to the CBI which exonerated the parents and suspected the involvement of Talwars’ assistant Krishna and two domestic servants, Rajkumar and Vijay, in the double murder. The CBI, however, could not prove its case.

In 2009, the CBI handed over the investigation to a new team which recommended the closure of the case due to critical gaps in investigation.

Based on circumstantial evidence, it named Dr Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect but refused to charge him due to lack of evidence.

Terming CBI’s suspicion baseless, Aarushi’s parents opposed the closure of the case.

Subsequently, the court rejected the CBI’s claim that there was not enough evidence and ordered proceedings against the Talwars.

In November 2013, Talwars were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Later, they challenged the order in the Allahabad high court.

Earlier in January this year, the court had reserved its judgement in the case. However, it later started hearing the case again as it found contradictions in some of the reports of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation counsel to inform it about the internet router which was opened during the night when Aarushi and Hemraj were murdered.