Aarushi's parents charged with double murder

Ghaziabad: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy in the killing of their teenage daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj. Both of them have been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code in the sensational Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad took note of evidence produced against the Talwars by the investigating agency and made them an accused in the sensational murder case. The CBI court reinterpreted the investigating agency's closure report and added Nupur as a co-accused.
"The court has taken cognizance of the CBI report. The court has taken cognizance of offences under Section 302, 201 read with 34 IPC and summoned Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar as accused in the case for February 28," said CBI lawyer RK Saini.
Judge Preeti Singh also rejected Rajesh Talwar's petition against the CBI closure report, which named him as a suspect but added that there was not enough evidence to charge him in the double murder case. The court sought fresh investigations to nail the culprits.
The trial in the case will continue and the next hearing is on February 28. While naming Aarushi's parents as an accused in the case, the court observed that circumstantial evidence in the report is good enough to press charges against both.
CBI sources told CNN-IBN that the Talwars are unlikely to be arrested and it is upto the court if it wants to cancel Rajesh Talwar's bail and take him in custody or orders Nupur's judicial custody. The sources added that CBI's stand had been vindicated.
Nupur and Rajesh Talwar's lawyer Rebecca John said that they will challenge the order in a superior court.
"The parents have only been summoned. We will see what happens on the February 28. We will deal with it. There is no question of arrest of parents. It was apparent the blame games CBI played in the court. It's not a final order. We propose to challenge it in a superior court," said Rebecca.
CBI has maintained that despite all circumstantial evidence it is not enough to nail anyone in the case. The murder weapon is yet to be found and also the motive for committing the double-murder is not clear, according to the closure report.
The CBI counsel had earlier submitted that there was no scope for further investigation in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case.
On May 17, 2008, Aarushi Talwar, a 14-year-old school student, was found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her flat in Jal Vayu Vihar in Noida. The next day, Talwars domestic help Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of their residence. Former domestic help Vishnu Sharma was named as a suspect.
In a twist in the murder case, the Uttar Pradesh Police then arrested Arushi's father Rajesh Talwar on May 23, 2008, claiming they suspected this to be a case of honour killing.
The CBI which took over the investigation, arrested Talwar's compounder Krishna on June 13, 2008. Vijay Mondal, the domestic help of one of Talwar's neighbours was also later arrested by the CBI.
However, they were released after no evidence could be found to link the trio with the case.
After spending 50 days in Jail, Rajesh Talwar was also released. The arrest followed polygraph test and Narco Analysis test.