Twisha Sharma case | Amid courtroom drama, husband, mother-in-law get judicial custody till June 16

The courtroom of Judicial Magistrate First Class turned into a high-stakes drama on Tuesday as a former district judge, now accused of driving her model daughter-in-law, Twisha Sharma, to suicide, made an impassioned appeal for her safety before being remanded to 14 days of judicial custody alongside her son. The dramatic scenes unfolded at the court of Shobhna Bhalave as the CBI produced retired judge Giribala Singh and her son, Samarth Singh, following completion of their interrogation remand in connection with the death of the 33-year-old former actor-model. Moving a formal application, the CBI said that a substantial part of its probe, including a second post-mortem report and forensic analysis of seized electronic devices, is still pending, necessitating that the duo be sent to judicial custody until June 16.

However, the routine legal proceeding quickly shifted into an intense courtroom clash. In the very complex where her legal writs once ran supreme, a visibly shaken Giribala Singh bypassed traditional procedures to directly address the magistrate and levelled a sensational allegation, claiming that her son had been physically assaulted by the victim's family lawyer, Anurag Shrivastava, during a previous court hearing in Jabalpur, and that she was being subjected to a relentless "media trial." Expressing deep anxiety over her judicial custody, the former judge pointed out that, having served in the Bhopal district court for years, she had sentenced numerous criminals who are currently lodged in the same jail. She argued that her life, and that of her son, would be in extreme danger inside the central jail.

Shrivastava later told reporters, recounting the courtroom clash and added that Singh had demanded they be kept in a safe, segregated area of the prison. The defence also demanded an investigation into Jabalpur court's CCTV footage to verify the alleged assault and asked for a blanket ban on media coverage of the CBI probe, claiming the press "dominates" them. "I told the court everything again today. I also told that some kind of allegations are being made, so the CCTV installed in the District Sessions Court, Jabalpur, should be investigated," Shrivastava said. Bhalave accepted the request for heightened security within the jail and issued specific instructions to the CBI to shield the accused from the media during their transport.

Outside the courtroom, the victim's family lawyers vehemently dismissed the assault allegations as an act of pure desperation. "From day one, they tried to ensure Twisha's family received no legal support," Shrivastava said and added that Samarth Singh had previously been absconding with a Rs 30,000 bounty on his head. He alleged that Giribala Singh's family was desperate to make allegations against him and his fellow lawyer, Ankur Pandey. "By fabricating charges against co-counsel Ankur Pandey and me, they are showing their frustration as the CBI net tightens. Neither of us will withdraw from this case," he said. He said both of them were capable of protecting themselves and thanked the media, saying "the media kept us safe in Jabalpur, because of the media I remained safe till the police came."

A day earlier, the CBI reconstructed the circumstances of the late model's alleged suicide at her marital home here using dummies. The central agency, along with forensic and crime scene experts, asked Samarth Singh and Giribala Singh to give a detailed account of the happenings on the night of May 12, officials had said. Twisha's initial autopsy indicated "multiple antemortem injuries" caused by blunt force, backing her family's allegations of relentless domestic violence and mental torture over unsatisfied dowry demands. Following the fiery hearing, the CBI team escorted the mother-son duo under heavy security to the Bhopal Central Jail.