New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of retired judge Giribala Singh, who is under investigation for the alleged harassment of her daughter-in-law, Twisha Sharma. Sharma’s husband, Samarth Singh has already been arrested and the case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of investigation.

Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, Justice Devnarayan Mishra set aside the May 15 order passed by a Bhopal session court, which had granted anticipatory bail to retired judge Giribala Singh, reported the Times of India. She had been granted anticipatory bail in a case related to dowry harassment. She had been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Dowry Prohibition Act.

Singh is charged with asking for dowry, harassment and cruelty. The High Court observed the the trial court failed to take into account the material available in the case diary and also did not consider the allegations levelled by the deceased’s father against the retired judge in the case filed by the family. The court further said that the trial court failed to take into account the witness statements and the accusation made by Twisha Sharma’s family, against the former judge (Giribala Singh), while granting her relief.

The court further said that while granting bail, the lower court failed to take into consideration several allegations levelled by Twisha’s family against Giribala Singh and her son, since May 13. The family of the woman had alleged that Giribala and her son allegedly pressured her to terminate her pregnancy and also harassed the deceased. The court further said that the WhatsApp chats of Twisha with her friends and family members and also the post mortem report which mentions several external injuries on her body, needed a deeper investigation.

While cancelling the petition of anticipatory bail plea of Giribala Singh, the High Court also took note of the fact that the CBI had repeatedly said that the accused had not cooperated in the investigation. The investigators had said that despite the sensitive nature of the case and several notices, the accused did not appear before the agency.

It told the court that the custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary given the sensitive nature of the case and the stage of the investigation. The court concluded that relevant facts had been properly put forward by the investigating agency and quashed the anticipatory bail of Giribala Singh. CBI is likely to take her into custody today.