BHOPAL: In a major setback to former judge Giribala Singh, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed the May 15 order of a Bhopal sessions court granting her anticipatory bail in the alleged dowry death case of her actor-model daughter-in-law, Twisha Sharma.
The 63-year-old Singh had secured anticipatory bail from a Bhopal sessions court on May 15, three days after Sharma was found dead on May 12.
The order, uploaded during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, follows the High Court judgment by Justice Devanarayan Mishra, who had reserved the verdict earlier after a nearly three-hour hearing, and is expected to pave the way for Giribala Singh’s possible arrest by the CBI, thereby accelerating the investigation into the high-profile case by the central agency.
Giribala Singh, an accused in the case along with her son Samarth Singh, Twisha Sharma’s husband, had been granted anticipatory bail by the Tenth Additional Sessions Judge Court in Bhopal on May 15, the same day a case of dowry death and harassment was registered against them at Katara Hills police station.
According to key sources privy to the ongoing probe by the CBI, the agency can soon take the custody of the former judge through the competent court, particularly to question or cross examine the mother-son duo together. Samarth is already in CBI custody till May 29.
The CBI, meanwhile, has sought the call detail records (CDRs) of all relevant cell-phone numbers of those linked with the May 12 night incident and has also asked telecom companies to secure the tower locations of those numbers for the period ranging between May 12 and May 20.
In its 17-page judgment quashing Giribala Singh’s anticipatory bail, the High Court observed that she was not cooperating with the investigating agency, despite several notices being issued to her for recording her statement and assisting in the probe.
"Mystery revolving around the death of the deceased, possible involvement of the influential accused and non-cooperation shown during ongoing investigation, indicates that the matter is at the initial stage, therefore, custodial interrogation of Giribala Singh may be required and to support their contention," the court said.
While noting that Twisha’s mother and other relatives had alleged harassment by Giribala Singh and her son Samarth, including pressure to abort the pregnancy, the High Court observed that statements recorded so far by investigators contained clear allegations against both accused. It further stated that WhatsApp chats also indicate that the allegations are not confined only to Samarth Singh. The court added that the trial court had failed to consider these aspects while granting bail to Giribala.
The HC further mentioned in its order, “As per the report of the May 13 postmortem (first postmortem at AIIMS-Bhopal), the death was due to antemortem hanging by ligature but from the postmortem, it is also clear that six other injuries were found in the body of the deceased in which four injuries were on the left arm, one in ring finger and one on the head and that was antemortem. From the query report, it is also clear that these injuries were not caused due to taking out the body from the ligature or carrying out to the hospital.”
