HC acquits parents Talwars in Aarushi murder case

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

The verdict ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi.

A division bench of the court comprising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Pronouncing the verdict in a packed court room, the bench held that as per the circumstances and the evidence on record the dentist couple could not be held guilty.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar have been serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then Chief Minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Timeline of one of the most mysterious whodunits

The Aarushi murder case is one of India's most sensational and mysterious murders. The May 16-17, 2008, double murder of teenager Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj remains an unsolved case, in which the girl's parents, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have been acquitted by court. Here is a timeline of the case.

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar, 14, found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her Noida home. Nepalese domestic help Hemraj suspected of the murder

May 17: Body of Hemraj found on the terrace of the Talwar house

May 18: Police say murders were conducted with surgical precision, insider job suspected

May 22: Police suspects it to be a case of honour killing

May 23: Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar arrested for the double murder

May 31: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over the case

June 13: Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's compounder, arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, the servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of Talwars' neighbour, also nabbed

July 12: Rajesh given bail by a Ghaziabad court after no evidence was found against him

January 5, 2010: The CBI moves court to conduct narco test on the Talwar couple

December 29: The CBI files a closure report, stating Rajesh is the main suspect, but there was not enough evidence against him

February 9, 2011: The Ghaziabad court rejects CBI's closure report and orders that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar be tried for the crime. The couple also face allegations of destruction of evidence. Bailable warrants issued against the couple

April 30: Nupur Talwar arrested

May 25: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar charged by the Ghaziabad court with murder, destruction of evidence and conspiracy

September 25: Nupur Talwar released on bail on Supreme Court order

April 2013: The CBI tells the court that Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by the Talwars

May 3: Defence counsel pleads before the court to summon 14 people, including former CBI joint director Arun Kumar as witness. CBI opposes the plea

May 6: Trial court dismisses Talwar's petition for summoning 14 witnesses. It orders recording of statements of Rajesh and Nupur

October 18: The CBI closes arguments, says Talwars "misled" investigators

November 25: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar found guilty of murdering their only daughter

November 26: The CBI court gives life imprisonment to both Rajesh and Nupur Talwar

January 21, 2014: The Talwars move Allahabad High Court against the CBI court's life sentence

January 11, 2017: Allahabad High Court reserves its judgment on an appeal filed by the Talwars, challenging their conviction

October 12, 2017: Allahabad High Court acquits the Talwars of the murders, giving them benefit of doubt.

With inputs from IANS