The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Friday suspended the bar licence of Twisha Sharma's husband Samarth Singh with immediate effect. It said the allegations against Samarth are "grave and affect the dignity and public image of the legal profession".
In a statement, the council noted that Samarth has not been cooperating with the investigation, despite the first information report (FIR) that has been registered against him for alleged dowry death, cruelty and allied offences.
"Shri Samarth Singh, Advocate, is hereby suspended from practice as an advocate with immediate effect, pending further consideration," BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said.
The development follows after Samarth was taken into custody by the police from the premises of the Jabalpur district court. Samarth had arrived there to surrender after his lawyer told the Madhya Pradesh High Court that he is willing to do and withdraw his anticipatory bail plea.
Samarth, a lawyer by profession, had been on the run since May 12, the day when Twisha died. He will likely be handed over to the Bhopal Police. Notably, his mother, Giribala Singh, is a retired judge and is serving as the chairperson of the Bhopal Consumer Court.
Second autopsy ordered
During the hearing earlier in the day, Madhya Pradesh High Court also ordered a second autopsy of Twisha, who died on May 12, following her family's plea. The post-mortem will be conducted by a team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
However, the court said the autopsy would be conducted in Bhopal and a special flight will be used to bring the doctors from Delhi. The Delhi AIIMS has said it waiting for a complete order of the court and will constitute a team accordingly.
Twisha's family has welcomed the high court's order and said it would continue its fight to ensure that the 33-year-old gets justice. "From the beginning, we were fighting for a fair investigation and justice. This is a fight of all of us - Twisha's friends, people who were connected to her, all of us," her bother, Major Harshit Sharma, told news agency ANI.
