Hearing in Aarushi case adjourned till 8 June

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad Monday adjourned the hearing in the Aarushi-Hemaraj double murder case till 8 June. The hearing was adjourned after the Bar Association of Ghaziabad decided to strike work following the death of a lawyer. The court earlier framed charges of murder and destruction of evidence against Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who are the two prime accused in the case. [caption id=“attachment_330946” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Talwars have been charged with murder and destruction of evidence. PTI”]  [/caption] The court also charged Rajesh with misleading the investigation by filing a complaint with the Noida police station that his 14-year-old daughter, Aarushi had been murdered by the family’s domestic help, Hemraj. In a six-page order, Special Judge Shyam Lal had said there was enough prima-facie evidence to start trial against the Talwars under Section 302 read with Section 34 (murder with common intention), and Section 201 read with Section 34 (destruction of evidence with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judge had said Rajesh should also be charged under section Section 203 of the IPC for misleading the investigation. The prosecution are likely to call in witnesses to testify against the couple on Monday. Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom at Talwar’s Jalvayu Vihar residence in Noida on 16 May, 2008. Next day, the body of Hemraj, who was initially suspected of killing her, was also found on the terrace of their flat. Rajesh Talwar is currently out on bail, while his wife Nupur is lodged in the Dasna jail. Her application for bail was denied by the Allahabad High Court last week. A review petition filed by Nupur is still pending before the Supreme Court where the Talwars have questioned a lower court’s judgement asking the CBI to prosecute them for their alleged involvement in the murder.