IANS

NEW DELHI GIVING Rajesh Talwar a breather, the Supreme Court on Monday directed that the dentist would continue to be on bail till February 4 when he will appear before a Ghaziabad court to face trial in the murder case of his teen daughter Aarushi.

The apex court bench of Justice AK Ganguly and Justice JS Khehar passed the directions on a plea by Talwar seeking the continuation of his bail granted in 2008.

The court said that its order allowing Talwar to remain on bail would not come in the way of both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Talwars taking further steps in pursuance of the on-going trial. Aarushi, 14, was found with her throat slit in her parents’ Noida apartment on May 15, 2008. The family’s domestic help, Hemraj, who was initially suspected to be the prime suspect, was also found dead on the apartment’s terrace a day later.

Appearing for Talwar, senior counsel Harish Salve told the court that he was on bail since 2008 after furnishing a bail bond of Rs5 lakh and it had not been cancelled.

The court was told that when he was released on bail, the investigating agency said that his judicial custody was not required to be extended.

The senior counsel told the apex court that when Talwar was already on bail why should he apply for fresh bail after the trial court had not accepted the CBI’s closure report and decided to put Aarushi’s parents to trial.