New Delhi, Mar 20(TOI): Dr Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur, accused in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case, got relief from the Supreme Court on Saturday after they appealed against the Allahabad high court order that cleared way for the trial of the couple.
The couple's counsel and senior advocate Pinaki Misra told the court that the chances of the couple getting bail was remote. "Both Rajesh and Nupur will be sent to jail. The trial court does not even recognize the bail it had granted to Rajesh earlier," he said.
"My Lords must have seen the incident on TV. Rajesh was slashed badly with a meat cleaver. He had filed for exemption from hearing in trial court, but it decided to issue bailable warrants," he argued.
Though the bench said "we do not decide on the basis of TV reports", it saw the point Misra was making and decided to stay till further orders the decision of the trial court to summon the Talwars as accused on the basis of the CBI's final report not naming anyone as accused but raising its strong suspicion on the couple's involvement in the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj on May 16, 2008.
Misra also dropped loud hints about the flawed investigation and biased final report of the CBI. "For two-and-a-half years, a material evidence — Hemraj's bloodstains found on the pillow cover of the compounder – has been suppressed by the CBI from the trial court. It is an open-and-shut case," he said.
He said Nupur had never been an accused in the case nor was any finger of suspicion raised against her. Yet, the trial court had on February 9 decided to summon her along with her husband, Misra said.
The Supreme Court issued notices to the CBI and the UP government on two petitions filed by Rajesh and Nupur separately. CBI sources said it would respond to the petition and contest the couple's claim of innocence.
Rajesh's plea before the Supreme Court, filed through advocates Sandeep Kapur and Shivek Trehan, started dramatically: "Petitioner is the grieving father of the deceased teenager Aarushi who was found murdered during intervening night of May 15-16, 2008. In a blatant attempt to find a scapegoat, the petitioner who in fact was the first informant and lodged the first information report, has been arrayed as an accused under Section 302 of IPC."