New Delhi:
In a setback for Nupur Talwar, the Supreme Court today has said that said she has to remain in jail. Mrs Talwar and her husband Rajesh Talwar, both dentists, are accused of killing their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj at their home in a Delhi suburb in May 2008.
Opposing the bail, the CBI said there are 13 star witnesses including Talwars' friends and servants, who are yet to be examined as witnesses. And that if she is let on bail she may influence these witnesses.
Nupur's lawyer argued that she will abide by any condition and can even stay out of Delhi.
But accepting the points raised by CBI, the court directed the agency to expedite the examining of th witnesses and said it will take up the case on September 17. Mrs Talwar has been lodged in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail since April 30.
Mrs Talwar's bail application says that the investigation by the CBI is over and the chargesheet has been filed in the case. Since her husband is out on bail, her bail should be considered on parity with him.
The CBI, in its affidavit, also said that the accusation of "double murder and destruction of evidence" against Mrs Talwar were "well founded and evidence has started coming in."
The investigating agency said that it had already moved the high court challenging a magistrate court's order granting bail to Rajesh Talwar.
Aaurshi was found with her throat slit on the night of May 16, 2008, a few days short of her 14th birthday. Mr Talwar told the Noida police that Hemraj was missing. The Nepalese domestic help became the prime suspect and the police dispatched search teams to locate him at his village. However, a few hours later, Hemraj was found dead on the Talwars' terrace.
A CBI court charged the Talwars under sections 302/34 (murder with common intention) and 201 (destruction of evidence with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In addition to these, the court charged Mr Talwar under section 203 (giving false information in respect of an offence committed) of the IPC.
The dentist couple says that the CBI, which has been investigating the case, is pinning the double-murder on them because it has not been able to find the real killer. The evidence against them is circumstantial. The CBI believes that a golf club recovered from their home in Noida matches the injuries found on the victims. The fact that the house was not broken into on the night of the murders suggests that the couple is responsible, the agency has said in court.