Aarushi case: Court to decide on Jan 7 on CBI closure report

Ghaziabad, Jan 3 (PTI) A Special Court on Monday
dismissed the plea by Aarushi Talwar's parents not to close
the double murder case saying it was "not maintainable" at
this stage but asked Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) what
was the "hurry" in filing the closure report.
Special Judge Preeti Singh also fixed January seven as
the next date of hearing for examining CBI's controversial
closure report which was also registered in the court.
The judge while hearing the CBI plea to accept the
closure report filed in the two-and-a-half year case of murder
of Aarushi and her domestic help Hemraj on the intervening
night of May 15 and 16, 2008, directed the investigating
officer to come with the case diary on January seven.
As the matter came up for hearing in forenoon before
the court, the Special Judicial Magistrate asked CBI counsel A
K Saini about the hurry on the part of the investigating
agency to close the investigations in the case that shook the
nation.
"What was the hurry (in filing a closure report)?
Where are the documents (annexures) of the closure report?"
the court asked the CBI to which the agency counsel informed
the court that "our (CBI) process is that we file closure
report when a decision in this regard is taken."
Apparently convinced with the reply, the Judge took
note of the report and told the counsel that "...now the court
will give the time to the investigating officer to submit the
annexures of the closure report."
The judge also read the application of Aarushi's
dentist parents -- Rajesh and Nupur -- opposing the CBI's move
for closing the case but rejected the same saying that their
plea was not "maintainable" at this stage and asked them to
appear before the court on January seven.
The Talwar's application has stated "it's a heinous
case" and in the "interest of justice" should not be closed.
The CBI had on December 29 filed a report to end the
probe in the murder case of Aarushi and Hemraj clearing the
names of three servants -- Raj Kumar, Krishna and Vijay
Mandal.
But the needle of suspicion pointed towards the father
-- Rajesh Talwar--whom the agency named as a suspect who could
not be chargesheeted because of "insufficient evidence".
Before the court began hearing the case, Rajesh told
reporters that "We want the case to be reopened. It is our
request that our daughter should get justice."
Rajesh and Nupur had earlier lashed out at the CBI for
making "false and baseless" allegations against them.
"By this closure report all I can say is that the CBI
has condemned us for life. They have put all kinds of false
allegations upon us without any evidence. This has been a
completely shocking thing for us," Nupur had said.
Teenager Aarushi was found murdered with her throat
slit at the Talwar's residence in Noida near Delhi on the
morning of May 16, 2008. The body of Hemraj was found on the
terrace the next day.
The CBI has raised doubts over the role of the dentist
couple in the case but said there was insufficient evidence
against Rajesh for it to file a chargesheet as it could not
zero in on any motive.