UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES

PANJAB UNIVERSITY

Right to Information and Media Law

Project on
Case Study: Dr. Rajesh Talwar v CBI 2013

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MS. ATAMBIR KAUR KARAN KUMAR

MR. AGAMPREET ROLL NO. 356/19

SECTION F- 7TH SEM.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teachers Ms. Atambir Kaur and Mr.
Agampreet who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic ‘Case
Study: Dr. Rajesh Talwar v CBI 2013’ which also helped me in doing a lot of research and I
came to know about so many new things. They provided with guidelines from time to time. Their
profound knowledge of the subject helped me in writing meaningful content in the project. I am
really thankful to them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends who supported me morally as well as
helped me in finding relevant material regarding the project so that I could complete it in the
limited time frame.

Karan Kumar
 Table of Contents
Background of the case ............................................................................................... 4
Investigation ............................................................................................................... 5
First stage – U.P. Police Investigation ..................................................................... 5
The second stage – Joining of Delhi Police ............................................................. 6
Third stage – Investigation by the first C.B.I. team (2008-09) ................................. 6
Legal Issues Involved ................................................................................................. 8
Arguments Raised by Parties ...................................................................................... 8
Prosecution: ............................................................................................................ 8
Defence: .................................................................................................................10
Jugdement ..................................................................................................................12
Role of Media Trial in the case ..................................................................................12
Conclusion .................................................................................................................14
Bibliography ..............................................................................................................15
 Case Study: Dr. Rajesh Talwar v CBI 2013

CITATION: 2014 (1) SCC 628

JUDGES: Dr. B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde, JJ.

COUNSEL: For Appellant: U.U. Lalit, Sr. Adv., Sandeep Kapur, Shivek Trehan,
Niharika Karanjawala and Manik Karanjawala, Advs., For M/s. Karanjawala and Co.
and For Respondents: Siddharth Luthra, ASG, Rajiv Nanda, Padma Lakshmi Nigam,
Pramod Kumar Dubey, Supriya Juneja, B.V. Balram Das, Anandana Handa, Shiv Pande
and Hemant Shah, Advs.

Background of the case

Fourteen-Year-old Aarushi Talwar was found dead during the early hours of
15th May, 2008 by her parents Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar, both of
them who’re practicing dentists. They found Aarushi devoid of her life with her
throat slit and covered with a blanket. The parents were described to have been in
great dismay by their house help, Bharathi. The neighbours were immediately
informed and the police was alerted. As soon as the police arrived in the crime
scene, they were taken aback to see the entire neighbourhood inside the house of
the Talwars. It was therefore concluded that the crime scene had been
contaminated since the police had failed to secure it as soon as they received
information. The forensics were called for and the house was scanned for
fingerprints and other evidences. It was due to this carelessness of the police
department to secure the crime scene; no fingerprints were found. The body of the
deceased was sent for post-mortem and the house was inspected for other
evidences. The police found the walls of Aarushi’s room to be stained with blood
and on further inspection, it was found that the male house help of the Talwars,
Hemraj was missing. This unexpected absconding of Hemraj was the reason
behind him being treated as the prime suspect for the murder of Aarushi Talwar. It
was a later discovered fact that Rajesh had earlier tried to bribe a police officer to
arrest Hemraj immediately from his hometown. This although was initially
ignored, turned out to be a crucial factor for consideration in the line of
investigations. As the search for Hemraj continued frantically, the post-mortem
reports of Aarushi stated that her death was caused due to an assault on her
forehead. This resulted in a clot which turned out to be fatal for her. The reports
also clarified that the slit on her throat was made after her death in a very
professional manner. After running several tests, Aarushi was handed over to her
family. Meanwhile the police noticed blood stains on the terrace door of the
Talwars. This ignited suspicions in their minds and the key for the terrace was
demanded. Since the whereabouts of the key was known only to Rajesh Talwar,
who was on his way to Haridwar to fulfill the Hindu rituals, the matter was kept
aside temporarily. It was due to this laxity of the police, the partially decomposed
body of Hemraj was discovered on the terrace on 16 th May. Forensics concluded
that Hemraj had also been murdered the previous day along with Aarushi in the
same manner. This disproves the theory of Hemraj being the murderer and the
situation changed drastically. Since the initial investigations ruled out forcible
entry, owing to the self-locking technique of the doors, the Talwars were now
being held as prime suspects. And the entire course of the case changed

Investigation

First stage – U.P. Police Investigation

After seeing the postmortem report the police concluded that the double murders
were an insider job and were done with someone who had clinical precision. On
May 19, 2008, Vishnu Sharma, the former domestic helper was suspected of
killing them due to the rage of getting replaced by Hemraj. But police could find
nothing on examining him.
The second stage – Joining of Delhi Police
On 21st May 2008 the Delhi police joined the investigation and suspected Rajesh
and Nupur Talwar for murders. Main reasons for such suspicions were-

 The denial of Aarushi’s parents about hearing any sound even though they
were just 7-8 feet away from her room.

 The offer of Rs 25000 made by Rajesh to find Hemraj was seen as a

diversionary tactic,

 The denial of Rajesh to identify Hemraj body was seen as an attempt to

mislead the police.

 The undue haste shown by the family in cleaning and cremating the body
was a matter of suspicion of the police.

 The request made by Dinesh to remove any sexual assault information from
the post-mortem report was objected by the police.

They created an extramarital affair theory between Rajesh Talwar and Anita
(Talwar’s friend). Aarushi knew this fact and had confided with Hemraj.
According to them, Rajesh finding Aarushi and Hemraj in an objectionable
position that night could not control his anger and committed the double murder.
The extramarital affair of Anita and Rajesh was confirmed by Anmol, a close
friend of Aarushi who was told this fact by Aarushi. On May 23, 2008, Rajesh
Talwar was arrested as the key suspect.

Being criticised for questioning the character of Aarushi he changed his storyline
to Aarushi being the witness of Hemraj murder was killed by her father. However,
police had no material or forensic evidence to prove it. This clearly shows that
police had invariably failed in investigating the case and formed a storyline which
suited them.

Third stage – Investigation by the first C.B.I. team (2008-09)

On 1st June 2008 at the request of Aarushi’s parents, the case was transferred to
CBI.
The first CBI suspected Krishna (Driver of Talwar’s), Rajkumar(Ex- servant of
Talwar’s), and Vijay(Talwar’s compounder) and arrested Krishna on June 13,
2008. A number of narco tests were taken on them but they were not conclusive as
every time a different version of the day was given- With an intention of taking
revenge and finding Aarushi’s door open he killed her and since Hemraj was a
witness to such murder he killed him on the terrace and destroyed their cell phones
and flushed the murder weapon. However, no charge sheet could be filed against
them as it was proved that they were not present at the time of the murder and
narco tests could not be relied upon by the court as well as the blood-stained
‘khurki’ and pillow cover found from Krishna’s room had the blood of an animal
in it.On June 26, 2008, the CBI declared it a ‘blind case’ but bail was denied by the
court on the same and new team was appointed for investigation. This again
showed a complete failure of the police in the examination of the witnesses.

Fourth stage – Investigation by the New CBI team (2009-10)

In July 2008 due to media pressure on the failure of CBI to investigate a new CBI
team was formed to investigate the crime and they alleged that the victims were
murdered by Nupur and Rajesh Talwar on the following grounds.

 No forced entry- The CBI claimed that there was a friendly entry as there
was no sign of breaking of any door or window. Since there were only four
people in the house and two were killed the onus to prove lied on the
parents.

 Room locked by parents- Since Aarushi’s room was locked by parents and
they had the keys. They had to prove if anyone else entered the room and the
way of entry.

 Altering the crime scene- The blood could be found on the floor, pillow,
wall and even at the entrance of the bedroom but the toys, pillow on the back
of the bed, the book and school bag which should come under the ambit of
blood spill were clean which shows that they had been cleaned. Moreover,
the bed sheet was laid out smoothly as if the body was kept on the bed sheet
after the murder.

 CBI also claimed that the private parts of Aarushi cleaned after her death.
The two golf clubs were cleaned so much that they were visually distinct
from other golf clubs.
  They supported the love theory formed by the police.

Legal Issues Involved

There is no doubt about the double murder committed but the legal issue is that:

Whether the double murder was committed by the talwars?

Arguments Raised by Parties

Prosecution:

The prosecution counsel lays down the following facts that:

Murder was committed by the talwars:

 On the fateful night of May 15 and 16, 2008 both the accused were last seen
with both the deceased in Flat No. L-32, Jahayu Vihar at about 9.30 PM. by
Umesh Sharma, the driver of Rajesh Talwar.

 On the morning of May 16, 2008 at about 6.00 A.M. Aarushi was found
murdered in her bed-room which was adjacent to the bedroom of the
accused and there was only partition wall between two bed-rooms. The dead
body of the servant Hemraj was found lying in the pool of blood on the
 terrace of flat no. L-32, Jalvayu Vilar on May 17, 2008 and the door of
terrace was found locked from inside.

 There is a close proximity between the point of time when both the accused
and the deceased persons were last seen together alive and the deceased
were murdered in the intervening night of May 15 and 16, 2008 and as such
the time is so small that possibility of any other person(s) other than the
accused being the authors of the crime becomes impossible.

 The door of Aarush's bed-room was fitted with automatic click-shut lock.
Mahesh Kumar Mishra, the then S.P. (City), NOIDA has deposed that when
he talked to Rajesh Talwar on May 16, 2008 in the morning, he had told him
that in the preceding night at about 11.30 P.M. he had gone to sleep with the
key after locking the door of Aarush's bed-room from outside. Both the
accused have admitted that door of Aarush's bed-room was having
automatic-clickshut lock like that of a hotel, which could not be opened from
outside without key but could be opened from inside without key. No
explanation has been offered by the accused as to how the lock of Aurushi's
room was opened and by whom

 The internet remained active in the night of the incident suggesting that at
least one of the accused remained awake. There is nothing to show that an
outsiders) came inside the house in the said night after 9.30 PM. There was
no disruption in the supply of electricity in that night. No person was seen
loitering near the flats in suspicious circumstances during that night. There is
no evidence of forcible entry of any outsider(s) in the flat in the night of
occurrence.

 The door of the terrace was never locked prior to the occurrence but it was
found locked in the morning of May 16, 2008 and the accused did not give
the key of the lock to the police despite being asked to give the same.
  Golf-club no.5 was thrown in the loft after commission of the crime and the
same was produced after many months by the accused Rajesh Talwar. The
patter of head and neck injuries of both the accused persons are almost
similar in nature and can be caused by golf-club and scalpel respectively.
That the accused Rajesh Talwar was a member of the Golf-Club NOIDA
and golf clubs were produced by him before the CBI and scalpel is used by
the dentists and both the accused are dentists by profession

Defence:
Murder not Committed by the Talwars:

 The accused claimed that they were being framed by the police to cover up
their own botched-up investigation.

 The Talwars stated that they slept through the murders because of the noise
produced by two air conditioners on the hot night. The couple's room had a
window AC, and Aarushi's room had a split AC; both were switched on the
night of 15 May. In addition, their bedroom was shut. Aarushi is also
believed to have had a throat infection, due to which she could not have
screamed aloud.

 In 2013, the defence witness and forensic expert Dr. RK Sharma stated that a
14-year-old child would have fallen unconscious immediately due to the first
blow from the blunt weapon, and would not have been able to scream for
help. He based this statement on an analysis of the injuries on Aarushi's
body. A sound expert team later recreated the air conditioners' noise in the
house on CBI's invitation. The team concluded that it was possible that the
Talwars could not hear the sounds outside their room, and thus, could have
slept through the activities in their house on that night.
 The parents denied that they had dressed up the crime scene, pointing out
that if they wanted to do so, they would have not left the Scotch whisky
bottle with bloodstains in the living room for everyone to see. The family
denied that they had shown any haste in cleaning the crime scene or
cremating Aarushi's body. Nupur's mother Lata Chitnis and their clinic
manager Vikas Sethi stated they received permission from the police to
clean the house. The police had told them that they had already collected all
the necessary evidence, including a part of Aarushi's mattress. It was the
police who suggested that Aanash's mattress be taken to the terrace for now,
given the media clamor downstairs. Vikas found the terrace locked, and
when he could not find the key, he placed the mattress on the neighbouring
terrace. The family also claimed that the police confirmed that they won't
need the body for any further analysis, since the post- mortem had already
been done. Since it was decomposing fast, they cremated

 The Talwars provided counter-arguments for the points that had made them
the prime suspects. The parents also pointed out that they would not indulge
in something like honor killing as they came from liberal educated families
and had an inter-caste marriage.
 Jugdement

The Sessions court, after considering the facts provided by CBI, declared the
Talwars to be guilty of the murders of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade. The
court ordered the officials to go forward with the imprisonment on the basis of
circumstantial evidences. The court also declared that the Talwars had committed
fraud by an act of forgery when they tried to tamper with the evidences in the
crime scene. The Talwars who believed that they were subjected to false
imprisonment, filed a challenge in the Allahabad High Court. They stated that they
were not given a fair trial and demanded their case to be heard in a higher court.
When their case was reheard by the High Court, it declared the Talwars to be
innocent and gave them the benefit of doubt. Since all CBI findings were only
theories and no factual evidence was provided, the court ordered to free the
Talwars immediately. The CBI couldn’t also provide any reason to ensure the
conviction of the Talwars. So, they were acquitted of all charges in 2014.

Role of Media Trial in the case

Media played both positive and negative role in this case. It cannot be denied that
the unblinking glaze of media was one of the major reasons in pointing out the
faulty investigation by the police and this led to CBI involvement and high profile
investigation in the case else the case would have been closed and put on the dusty
shelves of the police station. The Supreme court heavily criticised the role of
media and said that media scaled new heights of responsibility which caused
irreparable damage to the innocent parents who lost their only child. Due to the
continuous faulty theories, formed just to gain TRP lad people to believe that the
parents were the killer of their only child even though there was no witness to
testify that.

The love angle taken out by media between Aarushi and Hemraj completely
destroyed the character of that small girl. Even before the investigation Inspector
General of Police, Meerut in a press conference declared the girl as characterless
and concluded that the father in sudden and grave provocation killed the daughter.
Although the Inspector General was charged with the defamatory statement, this
story was spiced up by and the confused nation settled on this baffling story which
completely destroyed the image of the innocent girl and her parents.

Various news telecasts authoritatively claimed the love angle theory to be true. In
every article, conference and talk show the parents were portrayed as immoral and
unfeeling. This led people to believe in this theory to such an extent that they
thought that the case was filed just for convicting the parents and not for
investigation. All this took away the right of a fair trial from those innocent parents
and in turn led to the conviction of the innocents.
 Conclusion

Alleging anyone of them involved in this case, in my opinion, would be an

injustice to them as the case even after so many years of investigation and trial
gives a blurry view of the criminal. The complexity of the case arose due to the
continuous failure of the police as well as CBI to record evidence as well as
loopholes in the Indian legal system which prevented them from carrying on the
investigation.

With the growth of society and increasing complexity of crimes, it is necessary that
the technological inventions should be utilized to its fullest. There has always been
unanimity on the point that medical and forensic evidence help the court of law to
come to logical conclusions. Involving more and more medical experts in the
investigation for delivery of justice is the need of the hour. Although the courts
have not considered narco analysis as a reliable source its necessity cannot be
neglected in the present situation. There is an urgent need to legalize this test by
making new and separate laws governing the extent and mode of such analysis.

The case also pointed out an important issue of media trial. The separate
investigation carried out by media plays an important role in shaping the case and
thus has to be fair and unbiased. However, media needs to maintain a balance
between the investigation and privacy rights of an individual. The Supreme Court
highly criticized the violation of the right to privacy by media trials in Aarushi’s
case. Ergo, the case cleared many loopholes and problems in the legal system that
need to be corrected for speedy and fair trial so that injustice is not done to any
other person as done in this case.
 Bibliography

1. www.lawnn.com
2. www.lawvaccine.in
3. www.blog.ipleaders.com
4. www.indiankanoon.org