The Centra Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has dropped the dowry harassment charge against retired judge Giribala Singh, an accused in the Twisha Sharma suicide case, Singh’s lawyer Surendra Singh informed the Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday.
The lawyer made the submission while seeking bail for Giribala, who is currently in jail along with her son and Twisha’s husband, Samarth Singh.
After the submission, the high court directed the lawyer to file a revised bail application and posted the matter for hearing on October 8.
Giribala and Samarth were booked for abetment to suicide and under the Dowry Prohibition Act after the death of her daughter-in-law Twisha Sharma. Twisha died by suicide on May 12, 2026, five months after her marriage to Samarth.
A bench of justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari directed Giribala’s lawyer to file a revised bail petition as the original application did not mention that the CBI has not invoked dowry charges against her in the charge sheet filed on August 14.
Girbala’s lawyer Surendra Singh said, “It has been said in the charge sheet that Giribala and Samarth Singh have committed offences punishable under sections 85 (cruelty and harassment caused by husband and his family members), 108 (abetment to suicide), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, but CBI did not find any evidence regarding dowry harassment. We requested bail for the retired judge [Giribala] in the case of abetment to suicide as she had been in jail for the past five months.”
{{/usCountry}}Girbala’s lawyer Surendra Singh said, “It has been said in the charge sheet that Giribala and Samarth Singh have committed offences punishable under sections 85 (cruelty and harassment caused by husband and his family members), 108 (abetment to suicide), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, but CBI did not find any evidence regarding dowry harassment. We requested bail for the retired judge [Giribala] in the case of abetment to suicide as she had been in jail for the past five months.”
{{/usCountry}}Twisha’s advocate Anurag Shrivastava said, “In a 600-page charge sheet filed by CBI before a special court in Bhopal on August 14, CBI has accused Samarth and Giribala Singh of sustained psychological harm on Twisha and charged them with abetment to suicide but the agency had kept the probe open into claims of dowry demands and dowry death.”
The investigation is going on as the forensic analysis report of the digital evidence found in the mobile phones and laptop of the accused is awaited, Shrivastava said.
Twisa Sharma, a model and wife of Samarth Singh, died by suicide on May 12. The police had registered a case against Giribala and Samarth for abetment to suicide and under the Dowry Prohibition Act. The former judge had initially secured anticipatory bail from the Bhopal District and Sessions Court on May 15. A petition was subsequently filed in the high court challenging the grant of anticipatory bail. Additionally, a petition was filed seeking a second post-mortem examination of the deceased.
The high court ordered a second post-mortem to be conducted by a team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. On May 27, the high court cancelled Giribala’s anticipatory bail. The state government had handed over the investigation in the case to CBI.