A CBI special court in Bhopal on Tuesday extended the judicial remand of former district judge Giribala Singh and her lawyer son Samarth Singh until June 30 in connection with the suspicious death of Samarth's wife, Twisha Sharma. Twisha died on the night of May 12 in Bhopal.
Court Proceedings
The two accused, currently lodged in Bhopal Central Jail, were produced via video-conference before CBI special magistrate Shobhana Bhalave after their 14-day remand expired. The court accepted the agency's plea for a further 14 days in custody.
Regarding Twisha's second post-mortem report, the CBI informed the court that the report has not yet been received from AIIMS, Delhi. A team of doctors from AIIMS, Delhi, conducted a second autopsy on Twisha Sharma's body following a Madhya Pradesh High Court order on May 23, based on a petition filed by Twisha's father.
Family's Concerns
Twisha's family had been insisting on a second post-mortem, expressing apprehension that the first autopsy, conducted a day after her alleged suicide, may have been tampered with to favor the accused. The first autopsy report indicated death by hanging.
Ankur Panddey, counsel for Twisha's family, told TOI that the CBI informed the court that the second autopsy report has not been received yet.
Requests from Giribala Singh
During the hearing, Giribala requested the court to relax time restrictions on her meetings with her lawyer in jail and to provide her with the seizure memo of items taken from her home. The court accepted the latter demand but declined the former.
Giribala's counsel, Enosh George Carlo, stated that his client asked the judge to instruct jail authorities to allow meeting times for visitors, including her lawyer, as per the jail manual. She also complained that newspapers provided to her had certain news items about her case cut out, which should stop. The court agreed to this.
Furthermore, she requested that seizure memos, including those related to psychiatric medicines taken by Twisha, be provided to her. The court conceded to this request as well.
Giribala also requested that the Supreme Court's order in the matter be followed in letter and spirit, but noted that Twisha's family continues to give statements and interviews to the media about the incident, which she argued should stop.
