Aarushi murder: SC orders trial of slain teenager's parents

Dentist couple Nupur and Rajesh Talwar will have to face trial for allegedly killing their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi with the Supreme Court on Friday rejecting their plea for quashing proceedings against them in the 2008 sensational murder case.

A bench of Justice AK Ganguly and Justice JS Khehar dismissed the couple's plea to quash the proceedings against them in the trial court in the brutal murder of Aarushi, a class nine student, and Talwars' domestic aide Hemraj at their residence in NOIDA on Delhi's outskirts.

The bench said there was nothing wrong in the Ghaziabad Magistrate's order taking cognisance against them and putting them on trial as the trial judge passed the order after applying his mind.

"We feel constrained to observe that the court should exercise utmost restraint before interfering in the magistrate's order," the bench said adding, "The magistrate has applied his mind to come to the conclusion of taking cognisance in the case".

The bench also refused to go into the details of the case saying that it has to be heard by the lower court and the apex court cannot be turned into "mini trial court".

The bench's observation came when counsel for Nupur, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar sought to draw court's attention to various evidences to press his plea for quashing the case against the couple.

"We dismiss the appeal," the bench said while clarifying that today's order would not prejudice the trial against the accused.

Nupur, who was also present in the court, was visibly upset as the bench had in the very beginning expressed its reservation in interfering in the lower court's order.

As soon as the the bench started to dictate the order, Nupur was advised by her lawyer to leave the court room and she left.

Aarushi, 14, the only daughter of the Talwars, was found dead with her throat slit at the family's Noida residence on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008 and the body of their domestic help, Hemraj, was found on the terrace the next day.The apex court further clarified that the magistrate is not bound by the closure report filed by the CBI in this case.

"This court is of the opinion that the magistrate is not bound by the report submitted by the CBI. The magistrate can apply his mind to find prima facie case against the accused," the bench said adding that the "correctness of taking cognisance should be scarcely interfered unless it is not perverse".

"We are of the view that we should not interfere in the cognisance order of the magistrate," the bench said.

It said that the mysterious death of the young girl had raised some kind of public uproar but the court has to steer clear of the public sentiments.

The investigation in the case was initially carried out by the the Uttar Pradesh police which had arrested Aarushi's father on May 23, 2008.

The probe was subsequently handed over to the CBI on May 29, 2008 and Rajesh was granted bail by the Ghaziabad court on July 11, 2008.

The CBI after probing the murder for over two-and-half years had filed its closure report in the case in the Ghaziabad Special CBI court, saying it had been unable to find out any evidence to prosecute the Talwars.

The Ghaziabad trial court, however, had rejected the CBI closure report, saying there was enough prima facie material in the agency's report to put the couple on trial for their alleged involvement in the twin murders and had issued summons to them to face trial.

The magistrate took cognisance of the case and summoned Talwars on February 9, 2011.

Rajesh and Nupur had subsequently gone to the Allahabad High Court, which had dismissed their pleas to quash the trial court summons and the proceedings initiated against them.

The Talwar couple then approached the apex court which had on March 19 last year stayed the trial against them.