Jabalpur/Bhopal
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday granted no immediate relief to former district judge Giribala Singh, who is in jail in connection with the death of her daughter-in-law and model-actress Twisha Sharma, deferring consideration of her bail plea.
The court sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Giribala Singh’s bail application and granted the agency a week’s time to file its reply. The matter has now been fixed for hearing after a week. A single bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari heard arguments from both sides during the hearing. Senior advocate Surendra Singh, appearing for Giribala Singh, sought bail on the grounds of her age and health condition. The defence argued that she had not committed any act that could make her liable for the alleged offence and there was no material to suggest that she had instigated her daughter-in-law to die by suicide.
The defence also assured the court that Giribala Singh would fully cooperate with the investigation and comply with any conditions imposed by the court if granted bail. The CBI sought one week’s time to respond to the bail plea and said it wanted to place the case diary before the court. The agency has also filed its objection to the bail application, according to the defence counsel. After hearing the submissions, the court granted the CBI time to file its response and posted the matter for hearing after a week. Giribala Singh, who is currently in jail, will continue to remain in custody till then. Twisha Sharma died under suspicious circumstances at her in-laws’ residence in the Katara Hills area of Bhopal on May 12, with her family alleging foul play. The CBI, which is probing the case, filed a 636-page charge sheet in August against Twisha’s husband Samarth Singh and Giribala Singh.
The The High Court’s next hearing is expected to focus on the CBI’s response and the case diary before considering the bail plea, advocate Anurag Panday, representing Twisha’s family in the court, said.