Ghaziabad:
The special CBI court in Ghaziabad has formally framed charges against Rajesh and Nupur Talwar today for the murder of their 13-year-old daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in May 2008 at their home. The trial will now begin from June 4.
Earlier today the defence team of the Talwars' moved an application before the same court asking to sufficient time before the next date so that they can move High Court for appealing against the framing of charges against them. They wanted at least 15 days, but their petition was dismissed and the judge gave them nine days to appeal.
Yesterday, the court had said that the Talwars' would be tried for murder and destruction of evidence. The court also ruled that Mr Talwar would also be tried for misleading the court.
Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom; Hemraj was discovered on the terrace 24 hours later.
The Talwars have appealed to the Supreme Court to cancel their trial -that petition has yet to be decided. Mrs Talwar was arrested on April 30. Her bail pleas is pending before the Allahabad High Court.
The CBI believes that a golf club found in the house could have caused the injuries found on both victims. However, the Talwars lawyers produced a golf club in court on Wednesday to counter that theory. The Talwars say that Hemraj allowed a group of friends into their home. They were drinking and then tried to molest Aarushi. When she resisted, they say, the assaulters killed her. They then killed Hemraj.
The CBI has said in court that it has circumstantial evidence against the Talwars. In December 2010, the agency asked a CBI court for permission to close the case- it said it had no evidence to accuse anyone of murder, but said at the same time that it believed Mr Talwar was responsible for the double murder in his home. The judge in that court said the case would not be closed and ordered the Talwars to stand trial. Since then, Aarushi's parents have challenged that verdict in different courts.
Mr Talwar was arrested a week after Aarushi's death by the Noida Police. He was released after nearly two months in jail when the CBI, who took over the case, said that there was no evidence against him