SC agrees to hear Talwars' review plea in open court

In a rare case, the Supreme Court has decided to hear in open court the petition filed by the dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar seeking review of its decision of giving green signal to their criminal prosecution in their daughter Aarushi's murder case.

Normally, a review plea is being heard by the bench in chamber, but a bench of justices A K Patnaik and J S Khehar accepted the couple's plea for an open court hearing.

"The language of Order XL Rule 3 of Part VIII of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966 makes it clear that an application for review shall be disposed of by circulation without any oral arguments unless otherwise ordered by the court. The court is of the opinion that it should hear the oral arguments before passing any order on the application for review. Hence, the registry is directed to list this matter before the court for hearing," the bench said.

Talwar filed a plea seeking review of its January 6 order in which the apex court had cleared the decks for the couple's trial in the murder case by dismissing their plea to quash criminal proceedings against them.

The bench had refused to interfere with the lower court's order, saying there was nothing wrong in the magistrate's order of taking cognisance of the chargesheet summoning them.

Fourteen-year-old Aarushi, the only daughter of the Talwars, was found dead at the family's Noida residence on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008. The body of their servant Hemraj was found next day on the terrace. 

The investigation in the case was initially carried out by the Uttar Pradesh police, which had arrested Rajesh Talwar on May 23, 2008.

The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation on May 29, 2008, and Rajesh Talwar was granted bail by the Ghaziabad court on July 11, 2008.