Aarushi murder case judge acted like film director: Allahabad High Court slams trial court
The Allahabad High Court, while exonerating Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of the charges of murdering their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, had some strong words for the special CBI judge who convicted them.
In Short
- Trail judge acted like a film director, behaved like a maths teacher: Allahabad HC
- Judge ignored basic tenets of law: Allahabad HC
- Judge tried to give shape to his own imagination: Allahabad HC
"It appears that the trial Judge was unaware of the solemn duty cast by the law as the Judge and has dealt with the entire case in style - a finesse."
That is how Allahabad High Court Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra ended his concurrent judgement that exonerated Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of the charges of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in the sensational 2008 Noida double murder case.
The "trial judge" in question here is special CBI judge S Lal, who in 2013 convicted the Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of the double murder and sentenced the dentist duo to life in prison.
This verdict was yesterday overturned by a two-judge division bench of the Allahabad High Court, which held that the Central Bureau of Investigation had failed to provide direct evidence linking Rajesh and Nupur Talwar to the murders, failed to offer any eye-witnesses to the crime, and failed to establish a motive.
Holding that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar must be given the benefit of the doubt, the high court's Justices Bala Krishna Narayana and Arvind Kumar Mishra ruled that the parents must be freed and be acquitted of the murder charges.
The main judgement was authored by Justice BK Narayana, his fellow judge AK Mishra authored a separate concurrence that reflected "upon the style and approach of the trial Judge who recorded conviction and awarded sentence against" Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.
'MATH TEACHER, FILM DIRECTOR'
"The learned trial Judge has prejudged things in his own fashion, drawn conclusion by embarking on erroneous analogy conjecturing to the brim on apparent facts telling a different story propelled by vitriolic reasoning," Justice AK Mishra said of the special CBI judge S Lal.
The judge, Justice Mishra continued, tried to solve the Aarushi murder case "like a mathematical puzzle when one solves a given question and then takes something for granted in order to solve that puzzle and question."
The judge "surprisingly assumed fictional animation of the incident as to what actually took place inside and outside" the Noida flat where Aarushi and Hemraj were found murdered, and "like a film director... tried to thrust coherence amongst facts inalienably scattered here and there but not giving any coherence to the idea as to what in fact happened (sic)," Justice Mishra said.
"Certainly such recalcitrant mindset in interpreting facts vis-a-vis circumstances of the case and evaluation of evidence ought to have been shunned," Justice Mishra went on to say in his criticism of the CBI judge who oversaw the trail in the Aarushi double murder case.
"It is apparent that the trial Judge was unmindful of the basic tenets of law and its applicability to the given facts and circumstances of the case and failed to properly appraise facts and evaluate evidence and analyze various circumstances of this case," Justice Mishra added, indicating that the CBI judge had perhaps brought in his own emotions in to the case.
"It can by no means be denied that the trial Judge, perhaps out of extra zeal and enthusiasm and on the basis of self perception adopted partial and parochial approach in giving vent to his own emotional belief and conviction and thus tried to give concrete shape to his own imagination stripped of just evaluation of evidence and facts of this case," Justice Mishra said.
TALWARS TO BE RELEASED MONDAY?
Meanwhile, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who were arrested in 2013, are likely to be released only on Monday, reports suggest.
The reason for the delay seems to be paperwork - for Rajesh and Nupur Talwar to be released, officials at the Dasna jail, where the two are incarcerated, would need to be presented with a certified copy of the Allahabad High Court judgment.
The CBI too is awaiting a copy of the judgment and has said that it will take a call on appealing the Allahabad High Court's decision to the Supreme Court only after it goes through the order that exonerated Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.
WATCH | Rajesh, Nupur Talwar acquitted: Will Aarushi, Hemraj's killers ever be caught?