Jurists slam Moily for pressuring CBI

Law minister M Veerappa Moily sparked off a round of tongue-lashing by legal experts by questioning the CBI closure report in the Aarushi Talwar double murder case on Friday, two days after it was filed in a Ghaziabad court.

Law minister M Veerappa Moily sparked off a round of tongue-lashing by legal experts by questioning the CBI closure report in the Aarushi Talwar double murder case on Friday, two days after it was filed in a Ghaziabad court.

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Moily said he had invited the Central Bureau of Investigation’s director AP Singh to discuss the unsolved murders of Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. “The question is whether it is a fit case for closure or can further progress be made,” the minister said after the meeting.

He said, “I have told the CBI director to take the matter seriously. The CBI always does a perfect job. I want them to investigate.”

“The government should not expect the CBI to manufacture evidence,” veteran criminal lawyer and former law
minister Ram Jethmalani said. “I am no fan of the CBI… The CBI is not perfect, but that does not mean you start doubting
its work in every case.”

Making it clear that a “closure report does not mean acquittal of anyone”, Jethmalani said the option of reopening the case was always there if fresh evidence surfaced.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer KTS Tulsi said the closure report reflected the opinion of the investigating officer in the case. “It is now for the court to decide whether it will accept the report or ask the CBI to re-investigate the case.
Nobody else can and should interfere.”

Prakash Singh, a former director general of the Central Reserve Police Force and a strong votary of police reforms, said Moily’s statement appeared to be an attempt to swim with the tide, since public opinion was against the CBI in this case.