The Indian Supreme Court said on Monday that it was “hurt” by the narrative that a member of the judiciary was protecting the accused while it heard the Twisha Sharma case.
Sharma, a 32-year-old woman from Noida, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Katara Hills in Bhopal. While her family alleged that she was being harassed over dowry, Sharma’s in-laws claimed that the woman was a drug addict.
The case reached the Supreme Court and was heard by a bench led by CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court called on the media to exercise restraint in their coverage of the case, and stated that the media should not record the details of the victim’s family, reducing the pain of losing her daughter to mere “sound bytes”.
The court said, “We feel a little pain due to some of the actions. We will ask our media friends not to listen to the statements of the victim’s family or other families. Let matters move according to the law and procedures.”
The Supreme Court intervened after a media report claimed that Twisha’s family had been denied a fair trial. The accused, Samarth Singh, is a lawyer, and his mother, Gribala Singh, is a former district judge.
While appearing before the Madhya Pradesh government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that it was Sharma’s mother-in-law who started giving interviews to news channels, accusing Toysha of being a drug addict.
According to Secretary General Mehta, it was these initial interviews that sparked a frenzy in the media, leading to widespread coverage.
Later in the hearing, Mehta also pointed out that it is better to have a divorced daughter, rather than go through one death.
Below are some of the most important remarks made during the SC hearing.
Twisha Sharma SC Hearing | Key notes
- SC is hurting for coverage: CJI Kant said, “We feel a little pained by some of the actions. We will ask our media friends not to listen to the statements of the victim’s family or other family. Let things move as per the law and procedure.”
- The Supreme Court orders the Central Bank of Iraq to take over the case: “The only issue that remains under consideration so far is the approval of the recommendation for CBI investigation,” the bench said in its order.
- SG Mehta’s big note: During the hearing, Chief Secretary Tusshar Mehta also noted that “it is better to have a divorced daughter, than to face such an unfortunate incident.”
- The court guarantees an impartial investigation: Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented the Sharma family, raised concerns of “institutional bias” and raised the issue of delay in the original FIR as the court ordered a CBI probe. But the Supreme Court confirmed that the family would receive an “impartial investigation.”
- Request from the Supreme Committee for Media: While the Supreme Court urged family members to first register their statements with the authorities concerned, it also asked the media to avoid recording statements of people who might be potential witnesses. “This will avoid unnecessary premature impression of the outcome of certain cases to be investigated,” the order added.
