Aarushi case probe had become too personal: Defence lawyer

New Delhi: The Talwars were “absolutely framed” in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi, claims the dentist couple’s lead defence lawyer who also questions the investigation saying it had “become too personal”.

Tanveer Ahmed Mir, counsel for Aarushi’s parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar also claimed that the testimony by witnesses in court was what the investigators taught them.

“As I went along the case and saw the evidence I came to a conclusion that my clients were absolutely framed. As a matter of fact anybody, who reads that CBI charge sheet and sees the chronology of evidences as to how the statements of the witnesses changed, can come to a conclusion that these two people were absolutely framed for no reason whatsoever,” said Mir.

He was part of a panel discussion organised by Penguin Random House and Mumbai Mirror -“Speak for Aarushi” in connection with journalist Avirook Sen’s book “Aarushi”.

The lawyer along with Sen, journalist-author Manu Joseph and Ellen Barry, South Asia bureau chief New York Times, were discussing the double murder case.

The book goes beyond the murder trial and is a commentary on how justice and investigation are carried out in India. It is based on the trials and interviews the author had with various people related to the case, where the author claims that investigations by the police and the CBI were shoddy.

“The book is about the investigation and the trail. My name is not Avirook Holmes, it’s Sen, I can’t find for you the people who have actually done the murder. I was not there to give you a narrative of what happened. The kind of hypothesis which I would come up with would be similar to what the CBI did. Why should I pretend that I was an unblinking eye witness to all those events when I wasn’t there which is exactly what the CBI did,” said Sen.

According to Sen, the defence arguments were not fully

heard and there were glitches in the CBI investigations in the case. He also claims that there might have been tutoring and possible blackmail of some key witnesses.

“I would see the way the CBI got the witnesses to the court. They would come with passion and testify against them as if these two people were the worst people on the planet and they were coming from all waters bereft of conscience, fact,” said Mir.

The panel further goes on to discuss whether the investigation had become very personal in nature and was actually a fight between the CBI and Nupur.

“I believe that in the CBI itself there was a very strong conflict and that conflict brewed up between the second investigating officer and Nupur. Now what used to happen is that the investigating officer used to spend lot of time talking to the court. Rajesh would absorb on all what was being thrown at him and Nupur would give it back. So, the case became too personal between the investigators and the family,” said Mir.

The defence lawyer also claimed that all summons from CBI would come to the Talwars from an email id hemraj@jalvayuvihar.Com which would un-nerve them.