Aarushi murder case: SC annuls Talwars' plea to shift trial

New Delhi, Mar 2: The Supreme court on Friday rejected the plea of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and refused to transfer trial of the Aarushi murder case from Ghaziabad to Delhi. The apex court also said that only parties concerned, their counsel would be allowed inside the court during the trial in Ghaziabad court.

The judgement was delivered by a bench of justices BS Chauhan and JS Khehar which had on February 27 reserved its order on the couple's plea.

Earlier, pleading to shift the trial to Delhi, the couple had submitted it has been a traumatic experience for them to go to Ghaziabad to face the trial and that they also face security threat there.

They had submitted it would be better to hold the trial in the national capital as it would not only be convenient for them but also for the witnesses and the prosecuting agency CBI.

CBI had, however, opposed the plea, saying there has been an attempt by the couple to delay the trial and has assured the court that proper security arrangement would be made for them in Ghaziabad.

It had said there were some hidden motives behind the filing of the plea and that the petition for transfer of the trial of the case might have been filed as section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code (relating to anticipatory bail) is not applicable in Uttar Pradesh.

On January 6, the court had cleared the decks for the couple’s trial in the murder case by dismissing their plea to quash criminal proceedings against them.

The bench had refused to interfere with the lower court’s order, saying there was nothing wrong in the magistrate’s order of taking cognisance of the chargesheet summoning them.

PTI