Gribala Singh, a retired judge and accused in the death case of her daughter-in-law Twisha Sharma, lost her anticipatory bail in a late-night hearing before the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday, during which the apex court indicated non-cooperation in her order.
In the single bench 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, according to an earlier HT report.
Twisha Sharma, a woman in her 30s, was found dead on May 12 at her marital home in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, a death that was initially suspected to be a suicide but later led to an investigation into allegations against her husband – Samarth – and her mother-in-law of harassment as well as dowry demands.
The case is currently being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A first information report (FIR) was registered on May 15 in the case and the trial court granted interim bail to Gribala Singh within a few hours of registering the FIR while her son Samarth – who surrendered 10 days after his disappearance – remains in CBI custody.
Why was Giribala Singh’s anticipatory bail cancelled?
In the late-night hearing in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, 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, has been set aside,” the earlier report quoted the court as saying.
After getting anticipatory bail, Giribala Singh did not cooperate with the investigating agency despite issuing several notices to her to record her statement and cooperate with the agency, read the order.
The HC also pointed out that the lower court did not take into account several key facts, such as WhatsApp chats, which suggested that the allegations were not just aimed at Samarth Singh.
“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 that 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 deceased’s account closer 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.”
The court cited the signs of injury mentioned in the autopsy report. “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.”
What did the lower court order say?
The lower court order cited Giribala Singh’s age to assert that she could not flee. “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’s order quashed by the Supreme Court said.
The Supreme Court heard petitions filed by the state government and Toysha’s father challenging the anticipatory bail granted to her mother-in-law Gribala Singh.
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 Singh 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.”
Bail was granted to Giribala Singh within an hour of the FIR being registered, the Solicitor General said, 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.
He was quoted as saying, “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 possess a comprehensive understanding of crime scenes and forensic procedures.”
Amid the investigation into Twisha Singh’s death, the circumstances surrounding which remain a mystery, Giripala Singh has been in the spotlight for her comments about her deceased daughter-in-law that some, including Twisha’s family, have described as character assassination.
In one of her many statements, Giribala Singh’s love for plants more than people was quite evident when she said that her daughter-in-law did not water the plants despite her pre-marriage claim that she was fond of plants.
Speaking to news agency ANI on May 19, a week after her daughter-in-law’s death, Gribala Singh said: “When I was coming from my morning walk… she never took care of the plants… I asked her, ‘Twisha, you told me that you love plants…’ It was a complete farce.”
