The Supreme Court today stayed the ongoing trial before a Bhopal sessions court in the unnatural death case of Twisha Sharma.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), her husband Samarth Singh and mother-in-law Giribala Singh on a plea by her father seeking transfer of the proceedings from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi.

Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra & Siddharth Aggarwal along with Advocate Abhijeet Sinha appeared for Twisha's father Navnidhi Sharma. He has sought the transfer due to an apprehension that the case would not receive a fair trial in Madhya Pradesh because Giribala Singh, one of the accused, is a former judge and is influential in the state.

He sought the transfer of the trial to Delhi, submitting that he is settled in Delhi-NCR.

The case is currently pending before a District and Additional Sessions Judge in Bhopal. The trial had reached the stage of arguments on framing of charges as on October 10 before the Supreme Court stayed the proceedings today.

The Supreme Court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of Twisha Sharma's death in May this year amid concerns raised over the fairness of the investigation. The CBI subsequently took over the probe.

Twisha, a 33-year-old woman, was discovered dead at her matrimonial home in Bhopal on May 12, 2026, around five months after her marriage to Samarth Singh on December 9, 2025. Her husband, Samarth Singh, a lawyer, and mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, a retired district judge, are facing prosecution in the case.

The initial FIR was registered under Sections 80(2) (dowry death), 85 (cruelty by husband or his relatives) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, which deal with giving or taking dowry and demanding dowry, respectively.

The investigation was subsequently transferred to the CBI following the Supreme Court's suo motu intervention in May after concerns were raised regarding the fairness of the investigation by the state police.

In the chargesheet, CBI dropped the dowry-death charge against Giribala Singh and invoked Section 108 of the BNS, which deals with abetment of suicide. The prosecution's case is that she had abetted Twisha's suicide by taunting and harassing her.

Samarth Singh subsequently sought bail, arguing that the investigation was incomplete and the chargesheet had been filed on the 87th day merely to meet the statutory deadline. A Bhopal court rejected his bail plea on October 6, observing that the chargesheet could not be treated as incomplete merely because some documents were absent.

Giribala Singh, a retired judge, had earlier been granted anticipatory bail by the Bhopal trial court on May 15. The State and the deceased's parents challenged the order before the High Court, which subsequently quashed her anticipatory bail on May 27.