New Delhi:
Untraceable for two days, Nupur Talwar has finally arrived in Supreme Court which will hear her petition seeking anticipatory bail in the murder case of her daughter Aarushi. Mrs Talwar and her husband Rajesh, have been accused of murdering their 13-year-old daughter at their Noida residence in May 2008.
However, before the court takes up Mrs Talwar's petition, it will have to hear a clarification plea moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI wants a clarification on whether she is allowed free movement in the National Capital Region (NCR), a sort of relief till the review petition is pending at the Supreme Court.
This relief had been granted to Mr Talwar, but their lawyer had not asked for this relief for Mrs Talwar. The CBI wants to confirm whether this relief extends to her as well.
Mrs Talwar went into hiding after a non-bailable warrant was issued against her by the Ghaziabad court on Wednesday after she failed to show up in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court.
Pursuant to the warrant, CBI officials carried out searches at her south Delhi residence, and two other places, but did not find her there. The investigating agency can arrest Mrs Talwar any time before the next hearing of the case scheduled for April 18. But to arrest her, the CBI had to trace her.
Meanwhile, through her lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, Mrs Talwar yesterday moved the Supreme Court against the April 9 Allahabad High court order which suspended the 30 days protection given to her. It was based on this order that the CBI court in Ghaziabad issued the non-bailable warrant for her.
On April 9, the Allahabad High Court had suspended its March 13 order asking Mrs Talwar to appear before the Ghaziabad court within 30 days. It had also asked the trial court to "expeditiously" decide any bail application filed by her.
"This impression that she (Mrs Talwar) is a fugitive from justice, or that she is running away is absolutely incorrect," Mr Rohatgi had said in the court yesterday while seeking an urgent hearing of the case. "She can come to the court at 2 pm if the court takes up the case today," he said. A bench of justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, however, refused to hear her plea and said it would be taken up today.
The lawyer for the Talwars had said in court on Wednesday that the couple has already appealed to the Supreme Court against the order that puts them on trial for their daughter's murder. That case will be heard on April 27 by the Supreme Court. Till that is decided, their lawyer says, the court in Ghaziabad should not issue any directions on Mrs Talwar's case.
Mrs Talwar's husband Rajesh was present in the court on Wednesday but refused to comment on the developments.
Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom at the Talwars' home in the Delhi suburb of Noida in May 2008. The Talwars' domestic help, Hemraj, was discovered dead on their roof a day later.
Both the Talwars are dentists. Mr Talwar was arrested a week after Aarushi's death but was later released on bail when the CBI said it did not have any evidence against him. He is currently on bail.
When the CBI asked the Ghaziabad court in December 2010 if it could close the Aarushi case, the judge refused.
The CBI said it still did not have enough evidence against anyone connected to the case, but it reiterated its belief that Mr Talwar was responsible for his daughter's death. The court then asked for her parents to be tried for murder and destruction of evidence.