Trial judge was acting like 'film director'

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has chastised the trial court judge for telling a "different story" propelled by "vitriolic" reasoning convicting dentist couple Nupur and Rajesh Talwar in the murders of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in May 2008.

It has scathingly likened a lower court judge to a "math teacher" and a "film director trying to thrust coherence into scattered facts".

"The learned trial Judge cannot act like a math teacher who is solving a mathematical question by analogy after taking a certain figure for granted... Like a film Director, the trial judge has 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," the judgement says.

Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Lal in Ghaziabad (UP) had sentenced the Talwars to life imprisonment on November 28, 2013, holding them guilty in the twin murder case.

Allowing the appeals of the Talwars against the CBI court order, Justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted the couple, saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.

In "absolute agreement" with Justice Narayana in giving the Talwars the benefit of doubt, Justice Mishra said, "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.

"Thus, basing the finding of conviction without caring to see that it being a case based on circumstantial evidence things cannot be presumed and stuffed in a manner like the present one by adhering to self-created postulates then to roam inside the circle with all fanciful whim," he said.