NEW DELHI: Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar will be tried for the sensational murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi, with the the apex court Friday dismissing their plea against being named the main accused in the May 16, 2008 murder.
The Talwars had approached the Supreme Court to overrule the verdict of a lower court that ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to make them the main accused in the case.
A bench of justices A.K. Ganguly and J.S. Khehar said there was nothing wrong in the magistrate's order taking cognisance against them and putting them on trial.
"We dismiss the appeal," the bench said.
The Talwar's are facing charges of murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence. With Friday's order their last-ditch attempt to avoid summons from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to appear as accused in the case fell through.
The apex court will decide on Monday whether Rajesh, out on bail now, should again apply for bail.
"We are not interested in the gory details. A young girl has been killed," Justice Ganguly said.
The judges said the case has to be heard by the lower court and the apex court cannot be turned into "mini trial court".
The observation came after the couple's lawyer Ranjit Kumar tried to counter point-by-point the evidence brought forth against the dentist couple by the CBI.
The senior counsel was talking about the CBI claim that the Talwars may have dressed up the crime scene and cleaned up her private parts in a bid to tamper with the evidence.
"Summoning is a big thing for an accused. There are serious consequences of any such move," he argued.
He also wondered why the servants had not been summoned for trial despite much of the evidence pointing at their involvement.
But Justice Ganguly said : "It is an abuse of judicial time. We are flooded with such cases. We are ashamed by the manner in which power is being exercised. Now apex court will be looking into pillow cover and bedsheets. What is happening," the bench said.
"No trial can take place if such petitions are entertained. It is a wastage of judicial time. There are mini trials taking place in the apex court," the bench said.
"We are not trial court. We are only summoning order. Why are you placing all the facts of the case here. We sometime wonder whether we are a mini trial court. What will happen if in every case the magistrate takes cognizance, the accused move the Supreme Court?," Justice Ganguly said.
"We will only examine if the magistrate exceeded his jurisdiction. Cognisance has been taken after due consideration. Otherwise no trial can ever take place," he added.
The apex court also said that its decision does not reflect any judgment on their alleged involvement in the teen's death.
A visibly upset Nupur, who was present in the court, left when the bench started dictating the order.
An upset Rajesh Talwar, reacting to the judgment, told NDTV: "There is no justice in this country."
Fourteen-year-old Aarushi, a student of Delhi Public School, was found with her throat slit in her parents' Noida apartment.
The family's domestic help, Hemraj, who was initially suspected to be the prime suspect, was also found killed on the apartment's terrace a day later.
The murders grabbed national headlines and every development was followed keenly - the charges, counter-charges and court drama involving the parents and investigators.
Rajesh Talwar was arrested and kept behind bars for 50 days in connection with the crime but was later let off because of lack of evidence against him. The CBI then arrested Krishna and two other domestic helps in the neighbourhood, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal, who too were let out on bail later.
In December 2010, the CBI filed a closure report in the case before the special court in Ghaziabad, but stated that it had circumstantial evidence against the Talwars in Aarushi's murder.
However, Talwar approached court against the closure, demanding further investigation. The court too rejected the closure report, and in a dramatic twist, summoned both the parents to face trial, and directed the CBI to prosecute them.