New Delhi, March 01: A local suburban court on Monday granted temporary relief to a dentist couple accused of murdering their only daughter three years ago.
Dr Rajesh and Dr Nupur Talwar, accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of killing their teenaged daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj, in May 2008, were issued a bailable warrant by a Ghaziabad court.
The court ordered them to deposit 20,000 rupees (Dh1,623) each but refused their plea for exemption from personal appearance.
The court fixed March 22 as the next date for hearing.
Aarushi, a student of Delhi Public School, was found murdered in her Noida apartment on the morning of May 15 while the dead body of the Talwars’ domestic help was discovered on the terrace the next day.
Dr Rajesh was initially arrested but later released on bail. The couple’s decision to challenge the CBI closure report in the court backfired.
CBI in its closure report had said that while there was circumstantial evidence against the Talwars, they had failed to gather any direct evidence implicating them in the murder case.
The court, earlier this month, had asked the CBI to convert the closure report into a charge sheet. They have been accused of criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
Fresh accusations
They have approached the Allahabad High Court to get the charges dropped. The bail was necessary to avoid getting arrested.
Meanwhile, Dr Nupur has filed a fresh affidavit in the Allahabad High Court naming their assistant at work Krishna as the main culprit.
In her affidavit, she claimed that the CBI had ignored evidence against Krishna in its closure report.
Krishna was initially arrested by the CBI and let off after questioning, due to a lack of evidence against him.
Dr Rajesh was arrested by the Noida police, which initially investigated the murders before the case was handed over to the CBI.
He was, however, released on bail after two months when the CBI informed the court that they did not have any evidence against him.
The CBI, in its closure report filed in December, repeated that while they did not have enough evidence against Dr Rajesh, but stated that to them he is the main suspect.
The court rejected the closure report saying there was enough circumstantial evidence to merit a trial for the Talwars.
-Agencies