Twisha Sharma case: Accused cooperating with probe, not tampering with evidence, says defence lawyer

The lawyer for ex-judge Giribala Singh and her son Samarth Singh on Sunday said his clients are fully cooperating in the probe into the Twisha Sharma dowry death case, his statement coming a day after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Former model-turned-actor Twisha Sharma (33) was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12, following which her husband Samarth Singh and mother-in-law Giribala Singh were booked for dowry harassment and other offences.

''Our approach has been positive from the beginning and we are fully cooperating with the investigation. At the appropriate time, we will place our side before the Supreme Court,'' counsel for the accused, Gyanendra Sharma, told reporters here.

The Supreme Court on Saturday took suo motu cognisance of the Twisha Sharma dowry death case citing alleged institutional bias and procedural irregularities. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday.

Rejecting allegations that his client Giribala Singh was tampering with evidence, Sharma said she had been cooperating with police ever since she was granted anticipatory bail. Sharma also claimed some of Giribala Singh's statements were ''distorted'' in sections of the media.

The defence lawyer claimed Twisha Sharma had died by suicide, but declined to comment when asked about the reason behind the extreme act.

Sharma also said allegations made by Twisha's family regarding a Rs 20 lakh dowry demand were ''full of contradictions''.

Twisha's father Navnidhi Sharma and the state government have separately moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to Giribala Singh by a Bhopal court. The petitions are scheduled to come up for hearing on Monday.

Ahead of the hearing, the defence counsel said his client had neither violated any bail condition nor tampered with evidence.

Sharma said his clients had never objected to a CBI probe into the case or to a second post-mortem examination of Twisha's body.

He claimed relations between Samarth and Twisha were normal after marriage.

''Twisha had conceived after marriage, but she did not want to give birth to the child. However, Samarth and his mother Giribala Singh wanted her to continue with the pregnancy,'' Sharma alleged.

Samarth Singh, who had been absconding since registration of the FIR, was arrested on Friday evening after he reached the Jabalpur district court premises to surrender. He had withdrawn his pre-arrest bail petition filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court earlier.

A Bhopal court on Saturday remanded him in police custody for seven days.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)