(On 12 October, the Allahabad High Court will deliver its verdict on an appeal filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, challenging the CBI court order convicting them for the murder of their daughter Aarushi, and domestic help Hemraj. This interview was first published on 28 July 2015 and is being reposted from The Quint’s archives ahead of the verdict.)
- Vijay Shanker was CBI Director in 2008 when CBI took over the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder
- Vijay Shanker belives justice has not been delivered in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case
- Destruction of evidence started the moment the crime was committed
- The investigation standards in India are pathetic
- This points to glaring loopholes in the criminal justice system
Vijay Shanker was Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) when the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder investigation was taken over by the premiere investigating body on 31 May, 2008.
Shankar set up a team under Joint Director Arun Kumar who led the murder investigation. Over the next few weeks, Arun Kumar’s investigation found the needle of suspicion not pointing at the Talwars, but towards Krishna, who was Rajesh Talwar’s compounder, along with Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal, servants of friends of the Talwars.
Today, looking back, Shanker says -
Personally, I feel that justice has not been delivered in this case.
On 13 June, 2008, Krishna was arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal were also arrested. A month later, on 12 July, 2008, Rajesh Talwar was released on bail as the CBI failed to present evidence against him.
But the story did a massive u-turn after 31 July, 2008, when Shanker retired as Director CBI. His successor Ashwini Kumar promptly disbanded the Arun Kumar team. He also rejected Arun Kumar’s findings and appointed a new team under AGL Kaul, which then spent the next two years securing the conviction of the Talwars.
Speaking exclusively to The Quint, Shanker makes some pertinent observations about the case and how it raises larger questions about the criminal justice system in India.
Botched up or not, a lot has been written about the case. It only shows the uneasiness about the criminal justice system in India. In the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder, as far as my memory serves me, destruction of evidence started the moment the crime was committed, and continued, as case details reveal. The media too had a contribution to make.
— Vijay Shanker, Former Director, CBI
The former CBI chief also seemed to suggest that the quality of the initial investigation into the double murder, was simply not upto the mark.
This is the tragedy of investigations. The standards in India are pathetic and it points to glaring loopholes in our criminal justice system.
— Vijay Shanker, Former Director, CBI
We asked Shanker how the case turned on its head soon after he retired. How did the needle of suspicion flip back to the Talwars? How could the India’s premier investigating body come up with polar opposite findings? Shanker said it was a ‘loaded question’ -
I can only say that during my tenure, the case was only beginning to progress. The fact that a simple case of murder took more than three years to conclude is bad enough. CBI is not a municipal level investigation body.
— Vijay Shanker, Former Director, CBI
In April, 2013, when the Talwars’ Counsel moved an application seeking the deposition of former CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar as a witness because his investigation had pointed towards the servants, the plea was countered by the CBI and Kumar was not allowed to depose.
Allowing Arun Kumar to depose or not is a privilege of the prosecution and of the court. They did not allow Arun Kumar to depose and the court found nothing wrong with it.
— Vijay Shanker, Former Director, CBI
Arun Kumar’s CBI team has been criticized by subsequent CBI Directors Ashwini Kumar and AP Singh for several loopholes and flaws in the way they carried out their probe. While Shankar did not contest their views, he does maintain there has been a mis-carriage of justice.
Personally, I feel that justice has not been delivered in this case. However, that doesn’t mean that I am questioning conviction of the Talwars, in any case the matter is pending appeal in the High Court.
— Vijay Shanker, Former Director, CBI
(This article was first published on 28 July 2015. It is being reposted from The Quint’s archives ahead of the Allahabad HC hearing of the case on 31 August.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)