The Madhya Pradesh High Court, late on Wednesday night, set aside the anticipatory bail order of retired judge Giripala Singh in the death case of former model Twisha Sharma.
Twisha was found dead on May 12 and a first information report was registered on May 15. The court granted interim bail to her mother-in-law Gribala Singh within a few hours of registering the FIR while her son Samarth Singh remains in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the single court hearing, Justice Devanarayan Mishra noted the consistent allegations, non-cooperation, heinous nature of the crime and failure of the trial court to consider the evidence as key points to quash the bail order passed by the Bhopal District Court on May 15.
“The anticipatory bail order passed by the 10th Additional Sessions Judge, Bhopal for the offense punishable under Sections 80(2), 85 and 3(5) of the BNS 2023 and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 is set aside,” the court said.
“After getting anticipatory bail, Giribala Singh no longer cooperated with the investigating agency despite issuing several notices to her to record her statement and cooperate with the agency,” the order said.
“It is also admitted that the deceased became pregnant and the pregnancy was terminated within two months. The complaining party has alleged against the accused while Giripala Singh stated that the deceased herself was interested in terminating the pregnancy. From the WhatsApp chats also, it cannot be said that the allegations are directed only against Samarth Singh, but the trial court did not consider all these facts,” the order said.
Regarding the allegation of financial transactions in Twisha’s account by Gribala Singh, the court said
The marriage took place on December 9, 2025, and the financial transactions took place from October 2025 to February 2026, and no money was transferred into the account of the deceased, who was close to her death.
“It cannot be said that Giribala Singh transferred a lot of money in the victim’s account and by doing so, it can be assumed that there was no demand for dowry in view of the above factual aspects of the case and the allegation leveled against Giribala Singh.”
Read also: There is no money to meet personal needs, $2 lakh dowry: Shocking revelations of CBI FIR in Twisha Sharma case
The court also took note of the signs of injury.
“According to the autopsy report, the death was due to hanging the body with the ligature before death, but after death, it is also clear that six other injuries were found on the body of the deceased, including four injuries in the left arm, one in the ring finger and one in the head and they were before death. From the inquiry report, it is also clear that these injuries were not caused by removing the body from the ligature or transporting it to the hospital.”
“Giribala Singh is a 63-year-old woman residing in Bhopal and hence there are no chances of her escaping and on this basis, anticipatory bail has been granted to the defendant,” the lower court order, which was quashed by the MP in the Supreme Court, said.
The MP High Court heard petitions filed by the state government and Toysha’s father challenging the anticipatory bail granted to Giripala Singh’s mother-in-law.
The CBI also filed an intervention application to oppose the bail.
Earlier, Solicitor General Prashant Singh, who was representing the state government, had said that Giribala had violated her bail conditions and said: “She did not appear on the dates on which the notices were issued to record her statement. The accused failed to cooperate with the investigation: Notices were issued five times, yet the accused party refused to even accept them. Eventually, the notices had to be served via WhatsApp.”
He maintained that bail was granted within an hour of the FIR being registered, describing the accused’s behavior as a game of hide and seek.
The Assistant Director General said: “The court ignored the serious charges and ignored the case notes and prosecution materials.”
Siddharth Luthra, Twisha’s family lawyer, said the FIR was registered on May 15 only.
“Old age alone cannot justify bail. The accused is 63 years old and is trying to justify bail on the basis of age. Individuals from this background have a comprehensive understanding of crime scenes and forensic procedures,” he said.
Defense lawyer Nitya Ramakrishna, representing Giripala, responded that Toysha’s talks did not include any dowry allegations against Giripala.
“Majority of the grievances expressed in the chats are directed against her husband. Anticipatory bail before the FIR is not a crime, but a right conferred by law. Seeking legal protection of personal freedom cannot be considered illegitimate,” she added.
The defense notes included Twisha’s medical reports, UPI transactions, and conversations in which she wrote “Amma is a good person.”
They claimed that her family members took her to the hospital after she hanged herself, and more $7 lakh was transferred to her via UPI.
Meanwhile, the special court on Wednesday produced accused husband Samarth before a local court, which remanded him to CBI custody till May 29.
The CBI had argued that custodial interrogation was necessary, citing irregularities that occurred during the autopsy and the presence of unauthorized persons.
