STORY: "Justice not delivered: Ex-CBI chief Vijay Shanker on Aarushi case," by reporter Rishika Baruah, published by 'The Quint' on July 28, 2015.
SNAPSHOT: "Vijay Shanker was CBI Director in 2008 when CBI took over the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder; Vijay Shanker believes 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."
GIST: "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."...The former CBI chief also seemed to suggest that the quality of the initial investigation into the double murder, was simply not up to 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.".........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."
The entire story can be found at:
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