The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday quashed the anticipatory bail granted to retired judge Giribala Singh in a case pertaining to the death of her daughter-in-law, who was allegedly harassed for dowry, Bar and Bench reported.Twisha Sharma, a 33-year-old model-turned-actor from Noida, was found dead at her marital home in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area on May 12.Her husband’s family claimed that she had killed herself. However, her family alleged that she was harassed for dowry and murdered.On May 22, the husband, Samrath Singh, who had been on the run for over a week, withdrew an anticipatory bail petition he had filed in the High Court and surrendered before a trial court in Jabalpur. The Bhopal Police subsequently arrested the advocate.Giribala Singh had been granted anticipatory bail by a trial court on May 15 on the grounds that the accusations were against her son, Live Law reported. However, the state government and Sharma’s parents challenged the order before the High Court.On Wednesday, Justice Devnarayan Mishra noted that Sharma’s family had raised allegations not only against her husband but also against Giribala Singh, Bar and Bench reported.The judge also referred to WhatsApp messages Sharma had allegedly sent to her family before her death, which contained allegations against her mother-in-law. Further, the post-mortem report indicated that the 33-year-old had suffered additional injuries before her death, the court noted.During the hearing, the counsel for Sharma’s family and the state government objected to Giribala Singh’s interactions with the media. They alleged that the retired judge had given interviews maligning Sharma’s character.“The person [Giribala Singh] is wielding power in the institution,” Bar and Bench quoted the counsel for the state government as saying. “In a situation where people are languishing in jail, she got relief within 24 hours.”The state government’s counsel also argued that the trial court had granted anticipatory bail to Giribala Singh in a very hasty manner without considering all the facts of the case.However, the advocate representing Giribala Singh said there were no allegations against her that warranted custodial interrogation. Noting that the retired judge was in her 60s, the counsel added that she had given statements to the media only because they were hounding her at her home.Earlier in the week, the Union government told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation will take over the inquiry into the case. The top court was hearing a suo motu case registered about allegations of institutional bias and procedural irregularities in the investigation into Sharma’s death.The bench also said it was “slightly pained” by the narrative suggesting that the judiciary was shielding the accused because Samarth Singh was a practising lawyer and Giribala Singh a retired judge.Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.