Aarushi case: Trial court judge moves SC to set aside HC remarks, says they will affect his reputation

The judge was presiding a special CBI court when he in November 2013 held Rajesh and Nupur Talwar guilty of killing Aarushi.

The trial court judge who convicted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar for the murder of their daughter Aarushi has moved the Supreme Court to set aside remarks made by the Allahabad High Court against him while reversing his verdict.

The judge was presiding a special CBI court when he in November 2013 held Rajesh and Nupur Talwar guilty of killing Aarushi. (PTI)

A bench headed by justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notice on Friday to Allahabad High Court and Uttar Pradesh government on judge Shyam Lal’s petition saying the adverse comments would “seriously affect his reputation as an independent and impartial judge.”

The judge was presiding a special CBI court when he in November 2013 held Rajesh and Nupur Talwar guilty of killing Aarushi. On October 12, 2017, a high court bench of two judges accepted the parents’ appeal and overturned the trial court’s finding. Both judges wrote different but concurring verdicts.

One of them, Justice Arvind Kumar Misra passed strictures against judge Shyam Lal and said: “The learned trial judge took evidence and the circumstances of the case for granted and tried to solve it like a mathematical puzzle, when one solves a given question and then takes something for granted in order to solve that puzzle and question.”

Strongly objecting to the comments, judge Shyam Lal has said the strictures are “neither warranted nor are in conformity with the settled law as propounded by the top court.” He clarified he was not aggrieved with the acquittal of the parents but with the observations against him.

The judge listed out several important and high-profile cases he has decided to underscore his untarnished reputation. The cases include two corruption cases against former chief secretary of UP, Neera Yadav, in which she was convicted for three years and the Nithari case in which he sentenced the prime accused, Surendra Koli, to death.

“The substantial question of law that arises for consideration by this court (SC) is as to whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, one of the judges of the High Court constituting the Division Bench was justified in passing disparaging remarks, making unwarranted comments and criticism against the petitioner,” the judge has said.