NEW DELHI: The acquittal of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008 by the Allahabad High Court Thursday could signal the endgame to the saga of flip-flops by “premier” investigative agency — the CBI.
While the CBI officially said it will study the detailed judgment of the Allahabad HC before deciding to go on appeal against the acquittal before the Supreme Court, insiders said the agency had essentially filed a closure report before the designated court in Ghaziabad saying it does not have evidence to prove the allegations and an appeal may not be tenable. Through the closure report, the agency, however, made the controversial disclosure that it believed that Rajesh had killed Aarushi following which the trial court took cognisance of the report as a chargesheet and subjected the accused to trial and subsequently convicted them.
“Now that the High Court has acquitted the Talwars reversing the trial court order, the agency cannot go on appeal before the SC saying it does not have evidence against the dentist couple,” a CBI official said.
Former CBI chief A P Singh, during whose tenure the report was filed before the trial court, indicated the difficulty the CBI faced in appealing the HC order. When asked if an appeal in the SC will be of help to the CBI now, he said, “I am sure it will, provided they decide to file (an appeal).”
The initial probe led by then joint director Arun Kumar had sought to chargesheet three domestic helps (Raj Kumar, Krishna and Vijay), all friends of Hemraj, citing entry from outside the residence of the Talwars in Noida. However, when Ashwini Kumar took over as director of the CBI he changed the probe team and handed the case to SP Neelabh Kishore under the then joint director Javid Ahmed. The new team in its probe said there was no entry from outside and a golf club was recovered from the Talwars’ residence and suggested it was used to inflict fatal injuries on Aarushi and Hemraj. However, someone had drinks in Aarushi’s room and there were bloodstains of both Aarushi and Hemraj on the glass but the fingerprints of the person could not be established.