Nupur, Aarushi and Rajesh Talwar

New Delhi, Jan. 6: The parents of Aarushi Talwar, the 15-year-old found dead in her Noida home in May 2008, will face trial for her murder after the Supreme Court today rejected their appeal.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, both dentists, have been charged with murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

The couple had approached the top court against an Uttar Pradesh trial court order summoning them to be tried. But a two-judge bench of Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly and Justice J.S. Khehar refused to exercise their extraordinary powers to come to the Talwars’ rescue.

“We are not interested in the gory details. A young girl has been killed,” Justice Ganguly said angrily as Nupur’s lawyer Ranjit Kumar tried to counter, point by point, the evidence brought against the couple by the CBI.

The senior counsel was contesting the CBI claim that the couple may have dressed up the crime scene and cleaned up the teenager’s private parts to tamper with evidence.

“This is not a trial court. We will only examine if the magistrate exceeded his jurisdiction,” Justice Ganguly said, as the lawyer persisted with taking the bench through the evidence.

“What will happen if in every case the magistrate takes cognisance, the accused move the Supreme Court?” the judge asked. “Cognisance has been taken after due consideration. Otherwise no trial can ever take place.”

Ranjit Kumar protested the implicit suggestion that the Talwars were influential. “They are, in fact, neither high-profile nor highly placed.” A subdued Nupur left the courtroom quietly after the earful.

Rajesh, reacting outside the court, said: “There is no justice in this country.” The court will decide on Monday whether Rajesh, now out on bail, needs to reapply for bail.

Aarushi was killed on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008. The body of domestic help Hemraj was found a day later on the terrace.

The case was initially probed by Uttar Pradesh police, who courted controversy by making unsavoury comments on the parents’ lifestyle.

The CBI later took over the investigation. It initially floated the theory that two domestic helps who worked for the Talwars’ friends had killed Aarushi after a failed rape attempt that was resisted by Hemraj. Later, however, the CBI veered around to the view that the Talwars were behind the murders.

The agency said there was enough circumstantial evidence to show that Rajesh killed Aarushi in a fit of rage and that Nupur helped him cover up the crime.

In the same breath, the CBI asked the trial court to close the case for lack of direct evidence. But the court rejected the closure report of December 29, 2010, and directed that it be used as a chargesheet.

It issued an order on February 9, 2011, summoning the couple for trial. The order was upheld by Allahabad High Court in March but was stayed by an earlier bench — of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar — of the Supreme Court, which issued notices to the CBI.

After Justice Reddy retired, the case was transferred to the new bench, which today said: “No trial can take place if such petitions are entertained.… If this is the standard, then in all cases notice has to be issued.”