Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected the bail plea of former district judge Giribala Singh in connection with the alleged suicide of her daughter-in-law, Twisha Sharma, citing the ongoing investigation and pending forensic reports.
The order was passed by a single bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari after arguments by the defence and prosecution concluded on 26 October. It was uploaded late on Wednesday, according to advocate Anurag Shrivastava, who represents the victim's family.
Singh, 64, a former member of the judiciary, is an accused in a case involving allegations of abetment to suicide and dowry harassment following the death of Sharma, a former model and actor.
Refusing bail, Justice Nirankari observed: "Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and gravity of the allegations, the material collected during investigations, the circumstances immediately preceding the death of the deceased, the CCTV footage, the post-mortem reports and….this court is not inclined to enlarge the applicant on bail at this stage."
The case stems from an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Sharma married Singh's son, advocate Samarth Singh, on 9 December 2025, after meeting him on an online dating application earlier that year.
In its 23-page order, the High Court said digital transcripts, WhatsApp conversations indicating severe mental distress and a sense of suffocation, the sequence of events on the night of the incident and the subsequent conduct of the accused required a thorough trial.
According to the prosecution, Sharma was subjected to continuous mental cruelty, surveillance and harassment over her professional background. Tensions allegedly escalated after she underwent a medical termination of pregnancy in April 2026, following disputes over her husband's alleged drug addiction and questions about paternity.
On the night of 12 May 2026, Sharma was found hanging at her matrimonial home and taken to AIIMS Bhopal, where she was declared dead on arrival.
Two separate post-mortem examinations, including one conducted by a medical board at AIIMS New Delhi, confirmed the cause of death as asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging, which was suicidal in nature.
Seeking bail, senior lawyers representing Singh argued that she was innocent. They contended that electronic communications primarily reflected grievances against her son.
The defence also submitted that medical records indicated Sharma suffered from depression linked to personal substance use. It further pointed out that Rs 7.5 lakh had been transferred into the victim's account by the family.
Citing Supreme Court precedents, the defence argued that "clear mens rea" (direct intention to abet) was essential to establish an offence of abetment, and that mere harassment was insufficient.
The lawyers also said Singh, who was arrested in late May, had cooperated fully with the investigation and posed no flight risk.
Opposing the bail plea, lawyers representing the CBI, the Madhya Pradesh government and the victim's family placed digital evidence before the court. This included WhatsApp messages sent by Sharma hours before her death, which the prosecution said detailed alleged physical aggression by her husband following domestic disputes and pressure to transfer equity investments into a foreign financial scheme.
The prosecution also relied on CCTV footage from the premises, which showed the sequence of events involving family members shortly before and after the incident.
Addressing the defence's arguments, Justice Nirankari said the element of mens rea could not be considered in isolation at the bail stage, particularly in view of the digital transcripts indicating severe mental distress and the sequence of events.
The court noted that key forensic reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in New Delhi were still awaited. These include data extractions from Sharma's mobile phone and digital video recorders.
The pending reports, the court said, made it inappropriate to grant bail at this stage.
Speaking to PTI Videos, CBI lawyer Suyash Mohan Guru said the High Court had examined the facts and that the agency had responded to all the grounds raised by the petitioner.
"The High Court has rejected Giribala Singh's bail plea. It analysed all the facts. The CBI responded to all the grounds raised by the petitioner (for bail). The CBI said two items were under investigation: Twisha Sharma's primary phone and the home DVR (Digital Video Recorder). The HC's decision was based on the entire sequence of events in the case," Guru said.
"The entire sequence of events in this case shows attempts were made to tamper with the evidence from the beginning. The court did not rule out that possibility, and this was also our argument," he added.