HC sets aside Nupur Talwar's bail application

Allahabad, May 31:

's bail plea was today rejected by the Allahabad High Court, causing a huge setback to the dentist who is facing trial in the murder of her 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi turned down the application of Talwar who had moved the High Court after her plea for bail was rejected by a special CBI court at Ghaziabad earlier this month. Holding that there is prima-facie evidence, the Ghaziabad court had ordered framing of charges of murder and destruction of evidence against the dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

The court had also ordered framing of additional charge of misleading the investigations against Rajesh, who had filed a police complaint at Noida police station that his 14-year old daughter was murdered by domestic help Hemraj. The body of Hemraj was found on May 17 at the terrace of Talwars' residence at Jalvayu Vihar, a day after Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom.

According to CBI counsel Anurag Khanna, "in the open court, the honourable judge said nothing more than that the bail application is rejected. Contents of the order are likely to be known later in the day but we can say that the High Court has upheld the lower court order passed earlier this month whereby her bail application was turned down," he said.

The trial court had on May 2, rejected Talwar's bail application. She had surrendered before the trial court on April 30 following a stern direction from the Supreme Court which had also refused to stay the non-bailable warrant issued against her by the lower court upon her failure to appear despite issuing of summons.

Talwar had moved the High Court challenging the lower court order and it was claimed by her counsel Amit Srivastava during the course of arguments that she (Nupur), who along with her husband Rajesh Talwar, has been named prime accused in the case, had been given a "clean chit" by the CBI in its closure report.

PTI