New Delhi:
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has taken up the death case of Noida resident Twisha Sharma, whose family have held her husband and in-laws in Bhopal responsible.
The Supreme Court took up the case on its own and listed it for a hearing on May 25. Apart from Chief Justice Kant, the bench will have Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi.
The case has been listed under the title ‘Alleged institutional bias and procedural discrepancies in the unnatural death of a young girl at her matrimonial home’. The Supreme Court will look into the allegations of procedural discrepancy and institutional bias in the Twisha Sharma death case.
Twisha Sharma’s family have alleged her husband and in-laws including his mother tried to mislead the investigation and influence the case. Her husband, Samarth Singh, is a lawyer and her mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, is a retired judge.
Citing her in-laws’ connections in the legal system, Twisha Sharma’s father, brother and relatives have raised concerns over alleged bulldozing of the justice system by them.
Samarth Singh himself was arrested 10 days after his wife’s body was found. His lawyer Mrigendra Singh told NDTV he had not been hiding all this while.
With allegations that interference by the judiciary in the state led to the investigation not proceeding properly, Chief Justice Kant believes this matter should be thoroughly probed, sources said.
The Chief Justice has indicated the investigation should be entrusted to an independent agency, which can conduct a thorough and impartial probe to get to the root of the matter, sources said, adding the Chief Justice then told the Supreme Court registry to list the matter for hearing on Monday.
A team of four senior doctors from the Forensic Medicine Department of AIIMS Delhi will conduct a second autopsy on the body of the 33-year-old woman, currently preserved at the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary. Equipped with modern forensic instruments, the medical board will conduct a detailed examination and submit its findings to Dr Sudhir Gupta, chief of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS Delhi, who will prepare a final report.
The second autopsy is expected to provide crucial clarity in the high-profile case that has drawn widespread public attention. The development comes amid rapid progress in the investigation.
Giribala Singh has been served a notice seeking cancellation of her bail over alleged non-cooperation with the police investigation.
The initial post-mortem had left several questions unanswered, prompting the high court’s intervention for a fresh examination by a neutral and expert medical board.
