New Delhi:
Nupur Talwar, a dentist who, along with her husband Rajesh, is accused of murdering their 13-year-old daughter Aarushi in 2008, will not be arrested for now.
The CBI has assured the Supreme Court that it will not arrest Mrs Talwar - who has a non-bailable warrant against her issued by a Ghaziabad court - till the top court hears her plea for anticipatory bail. That can only happen earliest next week.
Mrs Talwar could not be found for two days before appearing in the Supreme Court today to seek anticipatory bail. Here are the top 10 developments in the Aarushi murder case:
1) As the anticipatory bail plea came up for hearing today, the judge observed, "When this matter was listed before us yesterday we were of the impression that this is a plea concerning review petition pending before us. Now we have realised it is an independent application where the petitioner is seeking anticipatory bail. We are therefore not inclined to hear the matter and are referring this to the Chief Justice of India to post before another bench."
2) The Chief Justice will now hand Mrs Talwar's bail plea over to another bench to hear, perhaps next week.
3) Technically, the CBI, which is investigating the case, can arrest Mrs Talwar, since it has the warrant. But on being asked by the court, the CBI said today that it will not arrest Nupur Talwar till her bail plea is heard. The judge asked the CBI lawyer, "Can we have faith in you?" The lawyer asked the court to have faith and the judge said the court had "total faith" in the CBI.
4) The CBI's lawyer said he had instructed the investigating agency not to do anything yet as the case is pending. The CBI says it has known where Mrs Talwar was for the last 24 hours and could have arrested her but didn't.
5) In another matter, heard in an adjoining courtroom, the Supreme Court said that Mrs Talwar was allowed to move without restriction in the National Capital Region, but that did not restrain the CBI from taking action against her. The CBI had sought clarification on whether Aarushi's mother could move freely within the NCR while a review petition that she has moved in the Supreme Court against an Allahabad High Court order, is pending.
6) Apart from the plea seeking anticipatory bail, Nupur Talwar has also moved the Supreme Court against an April 9 order of the Allahabad High Court, suspending a 30-day protection given to her by the court on March 13.
7) It was based on this April 9 order of the High Court that the CBI court in Ghaziabad issued the non-bailable warrant for her on Wednesday, April 11.
8) After the court issued the warrant, the CBI carried out searches at Mrs Talwar's south Delhi residence, and at two other places, but did not find her there.
9) Nupur Talwar's lawyer Rebecca John said today that her client had not been absconding. "The rumours that were spreading that she has been absconding for the past 2 days have now come out as a lie. She appeared for the case. It was an act of dignity and courage. The Talwars have no intention of not facing any kind of trial Here are parents who have lost their child but their liberties have to be ensured and that they should be permitted to speak their innocence."
10) Both the Talwars are dentists. Mr Talwar was arrested a week after Aarushi and the family's domestic help Hemraj were found dead at the Talwars' Noida residence in 2008, but was later released on bail when the CBI said it did not have any evidence against him. He is currently out 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 said it believed Mr Talwar was responsible for his daughter's death. The court then asked for both her parents to be tried for murder and destruction of evidence.