A CBI court in Ghaziabad on Monday rejected the application of Dr Rajesh Talwar and his wife, Nupur Talwar, the parents of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar, seeking permission to oppose the CBI’s move to file a closure report in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case, saying their plea was “not maintainable” at this stage. The court also questioned the CBI about the “hurry” it had shown in filing the closure report.
After going through the application of the Talwars, the court rejected their plea and asked them to appear before it on January 7. In their application, the Talwars stated that “it’s a heinous case” and it should not be closed in the “interest of justice”. In its report filed last Wednesday seeking to close the case, the CBI mentioned various points indicating that Dr Rajesh Talwar may have had a role but said the agency did not have enough evidence to proceed with a chargesheet.
A surprised CBI special judge Preeti Singh asked the probe agency why it was in such a hurry to file a closure report when the courts were on vacation. “What was the hurry (in filing a closure report)? Where are the documents (annexures) of the closure report,” the court asked, adding that the investigating agency could have waited for the courts to re-open. However, CBI lawyer A.K. Saini replied saying the CBI needed to file closure reports by December 31, which was routine for the probe agency.
The court fixed January 7 for the next hearing and asked the investigating officer of the case to submit the annexures and the case diary before the court.
Aarushi’s parents, too, were present during the hearing. They had come to seek a copy of the CBI closure report after the probe agency named Dr Rajesh Talwar as the lone suspect in the murder of Aarushi and their domestic help, Hemraj.
Later, talking to reporters, Dr Talwar said, “We want justice for our child, we will not let it (case) go so easily.” He added: “I don’t want the case to be closed. I want justice for my daughter. I don’t want the CBI to blame me or my wife in the case. They should look for evidence to find out the truth about who killed Aarushi.”
Before the court began hearing the case, Dr Talwar told reporters: “We want the case to be reopened. It is our request that our daughter should get justice.”
Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found murdered in her parents’ Jalvayu Vihar apartment in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on May 16, 2008. Hemraj’s body was found on the flat’s terrace a day later.