SC accepts pleas challenging Talwars' acquittal in Aarushi-Hemraj murder case

In yet another twist in the sensational Aarushi Talwar-Hemraj double murder case, the Supreme Court on Monday accepted two petitions challenging the acquittal of the Talwar couple in the case. The first application is by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has appealed against the acquittal of Aarushi's parents - Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar. The second petition admitted by the apex court is by Hemraj's widow Khumkala Banjade.

Khumkala Banjade had in December 2017 challenged the Talwar couple's acquittal in the case by Allahabad High Court. Following Khumkala's appeal, the CBI too moved the apex court.

Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar were acquitted and set free by Allahabad High Court on October 12, 2017 after the judge ruled that the duo cannot be held guilty of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj on the basis of the available evidence.

They had been convicted for the double murder by a CBI court in Ghaziabad and sentenced to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013. They were lodged in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Aarushi, a 14-year-old girl, was found dead inside her room in the L 32 flat in Lal Vayu Vihar in Noida's Sector 25 on May 16, 2008. The initial suspect was the 45-year-old Hemraj as he was found missing on the day Aarushi's murder was discovered. But his dead body was recovered on May 17, throwing the investigators into a tizzy.

On May 31, 2008, the CBI took over the case and initially absolved the parents but later held them responsible for the two murders.

On June 13, 2008, Rajesh Talwar's compounder Krishna was arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, a servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of the Talwars` neighbour, were also nabbed.

The three were later freed after no evidence was found against them.