Twisha Sharma Death Case: Trial Stayed By Supreme Court, Bail Proceedings To Continue Before MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court was informed that the Supreme Court has stayed the trial in the Twisha Sharma death case, even as proceedings on a bail application before the High Court will continue and must be concluded within two weeks.

Counsel appearing for Giribala Singh, Sr Adv Surendra Singh told the High Court that an application seeking transfer of the case has been moved before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has stayed further proceedings before the Bhopal Sessions Court until further orders.

However, the stay on the trial does not extend to the bail application. Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari was told that the bail matter can go ahead, and the proceedings are expected to be wrapped up within two weeks as per the Supreme Court's order.

The High Court has posted the matter for further hearing on October 26, 2026, at 10:30 am.

The Supreme Court issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Twisha’s husband Samarth Singh and her mother-in-law Giribala Singh on a plea seeking transfer of the trial from Bhopal to a competent court in Delhi.

The petition has been filed by Twisha’s father, Navnidhi Sharma. He has cited concerns over whether a free and fair trial is possible in Madhya Pradesh.

According to the plea, Giribala Singh is a retired Principal District and Sessions Judge, and her alleged influence could affect the proceedings. The petitioner has also raised the possibility that evidence may be influenced during the trial.

A separate application was also filed in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the trial until the transfer plea is decided. It is this stay that Giribala Singh’s counsel brought to the notice of the High Court.

While the trial before the Sessions Court in Bhopal stands stayed, the High Court will continue to examine the bail plea.

Background

Twisha Sharma was found dead at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12, barely five months after her wedding to advocate Samarth Singh, Giribala's son. Her family alleged foul play, with her brother, Major Harshit Sharma of the Indian Army, claiming she had faced continuous harassment over a dowry demand of roughly two lakh rupees and restrictions on her access to money. An FIR naming Samarth and Giribala Singh followed two days later; Samarth was arrested in Jabalpur on May 22 after evading arrest for ten days.

The Supreme Court subsequently took suo motu cognisance, citing concern that a judicial officer's alleged involvement could dent public confidence in the justice system, and transferred the probe to the CBI. Both have been in custody since June 2, facing dowry death charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. In August, the CBI filed a 636-page charge sheet against them.

Singh's plea before the High Court comes after a special CBI court in Bhopal rejected her regular bail application last month, accepting that the probe was at a sensitive stage and her release could compromise it. That court noted her decades as a District and Sessions Judge gave her institutional influence that made witness or evidence interference a real, not remote, possibility. Opposing bail, the CBI had alleged she tried to influence the probe by reaching out to a CCTV technician and a salon operator, and by sending a representative to procure CCTV footage, while flagging her refusal to give a voice sample, citing call records, WhatsApp chats and witness statements already gathered.

Before the special court, the defence had also argued bail on humanitarian grounds, citing Singh's health in custody, the need to care for her nearly hundred-year-old mother, and rituals connected with Twisha's death. It was argued that Singh, drawing a regular pension along with a war widow's pension, was financially secure, making a dowry demand improbable. The court held none of these grounds outweighed the seriousness of the allegations.

Case Title: Smt. Giribala Singh v. The State of Madhya Pradesh

Date of Hearing: October 16, 2026

Bench: Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari