SC praises prompt actionby MP gov inTwisha case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said the CBI must immediately take up investigations, as requested by the Madhya Pradesh government, into the unnatural death of corporate professional-turned actor Twisha Sharma within six months of her marriage to an advocate and carry out a thorough and impartial probe.Appreciating the prompt decision taken by the state govt to refer the case investigation to the CBI, the CJI-led bench said, “We have no doubt that the CBI will conduct an impartial probe. The moment a narrative about institutional bias was built, the state rightly referred the investigations to the CBI.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta assured a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi that he would impress upon the concerned authorities to ensure that CBI took up the investigations into the death of the 33-year-old Noida woman under suspicious circumstances without any loss of time.The bench said that it took suo motu cognizance of the case after several media reports apprehended institutional bias and interference in the probe as the husband is a practicing lawyer and the mother-in-law a retired district judge, who had obtained an anticipatory bail within a day of applying for it.Appearing for MP govt, Mehta said that the mother-in-law, a potential accused in the case, has been hopping from one TV channel to another and giving statements maligning the deceased after she got anticipatory bail on May 15 within a day of applying for the same.“The state has challenged the grant of anticipatory bail to her. She is not cooperating with investigations and has not recorded her statement with police despite several notices issued to her. The investigating agency needs to seize her mobile phone and other electronic devices which could be crucial evidence in the case,” he said.The bench disapproved of the media taking statements of witnesses and potential accused and requested them to desist from it as it could prejudice or jeopardize the rights of the complainant and potential accused in addition to interfering with a fair trial. Mehta said that it was because of the media that the case got highlighted.The bench said the people concerned, instead of giving interviews to the media, should go before the investigating agencies and record their statements. “We also request the public not to speculate and have trust and faith in the premier investigating agency, which in due course will take the investigations to its logical end,” the CJI-led bench said.When senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the family members of the deceased, attempted to show certain documents, the bench told him to give it to the investigating agency.