The Supreme Court on Monday directed the trial court to release Dr. Nupur Talwar on bail on September 25 in the case of the murder of her teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.
A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and J.S. Khehar disposed of Nupur’s appeal against the order of the Allahabad High Court, which dismissed her bail plea on May 31. She has been in jail from April 30.
Aarushi, 14, was found dead in her bedroom at the Talwars’ residence at Noida on the intervening night of May 16-17, 2008. The body of Hemraj was found on the terrace on May 17.
At the last hearing on August 13, the Bench asked the CBI to complete recording the evidence of 13 crucial witnesses by September 17.
During the resumed hearing, Additional Solicitor General Siddarth Luthra, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation, said nine of them had been examined, one witness was dropped and two others — a maid and a guard — were not traceable. He opposed bail to Nupur, stating the trial would be completed by December-end.
Her counsel, K.V. Viswanathan, however, said there was no allegation that she attempted to influence witnesses. He pointed out that she was never an accused during the course of investigation and that she had cooperated with the CBI. Refuting the CBI’s statement, counsel said it would take at least 90 more weeks to complete the trial.
In its order, the Bench said made it clear to the trial court that it should complete examination of the remaining witnesses by September 24. Whether or not the job was over, it should release Nupur on bail the next day.
