Only the newly added Section 108 BNS allegation, and nothing beyond it: that is the limit the Madhya Pradesh High Court has set on the Giribala Singh bail plea amendment, with the CBI saying its probe into the dowry death allegation is still on.
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Jabalpur: Allowing the Giribala Singh bail plea amendment only in part on October 8, the Madhya Pradesh High Court confined it to the allegation of abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) added in the CBI’s chargesheet. The former district judge had sought to amend her regular bail application, and the CBI and the complainant side maintained that the dowry death allegation has not been dropped [Smt. Giribala Singh v. The State of Madhya Pradesh].
Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari directed that the amendment be carried out within two working days, with a copy served on the opposite parties. The regular bail application itself remains pending and is listed next on October 14 at 2:30 PM.
The Court’s limit on the amendment
The Court found no dropping of the dowry offences, noting that only Section 108 BNS had been added, and allowed the amendment in these terms:
up to the extent of allegation of Section 108 only.
The Section 108 BNS allegation will therefore sit alongside the allegations already in the FIR. The CBI said no fresh reply was needed, while the complainant side may file additional objections, since its earlier objections predate the chargesheet.
The accused’s argument
Appearing for Ms Singh, Advocate Surendra Singh submitted that the dowry death and Dowry Prohibition Act offences are missing from the chargesheet and have therefore been dropped. He argued that five months have passed, statements of close relatives have been recorded, and there is no proof of a dowry demand. He also contended that the 90-day investigation period has expired, so that she is entitled to default bail under Article 21, and described the continuing probe as a ploy to defeat the ends of justice.
The CBI and the complainant side
The CBI objected only to the submission that the dowry offences have been dropped, stating that they have not been, and that the investigation is continuing with the trial court’s permission under Section 193(9) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). It contended that further investigation is permissible despite the 90-day limit and that, once a chargesheet is filed for some offences, the accused cannot claim default bail.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, for the complainant side, pointed to paragraph 16.62 of the chargesheet, which records that the probe into dowry demand and dowry death will continue. He submitted that data from the deceased’s phone is awaited, that DVR data from the accused’s house has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi, and that any tampering will be examined. He called paragraph 4 of the amendment application factually wrong.
How the case got here
The matter arises from the death of Ms Singh’s daughter-in-law at the matrimonial home in Bhopal in May. The family of the deceased has alleged dowry-related harassment. Ms Singh and her son, advocate Samarth Singh, were named in the FIR, and the probe was later taken over by the CBI after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance. Ms Singh has been in custody since June 2 and denies the allegations.
In August, the CBI filed a 636-page chargesheet invoking Sections 85, 108 and 3(5) of the BNS. It does not list Section 80(2) BNS (dowry death) or Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. A special CBI court in Bhopal declined her regular bail application last month, citing the sensitive stage of the probe and the risk of influencing witnesses or evidence, a ground the CBI had pressed on the basis of its own allegations. On September 30, the High Court had permitted her to seek amendment of the bail plea, which was filed before the chargesheet.
What the order settles
The order fixes the framework in which the pending bail plea will be heard. The amendment is confined to the added Section 108 BNS allegation, and the Court has recorded that nothing has been dropped, so the contest over whether the dowry death allegation survives the chargesheet stays alive for the next hearing.
All the allegations are untested. The Court has expressed no view on the merits of the bail plea or of the case, and Ms Singh is presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty at trial.
Case Title: Smt. Giribala Singh v. The State of Madhya Pradesh
Bench: Justice Ajay Kumar Nirankari, Madhya Pradesh High Court
Date of Order: October 8, 2026
Appearances: Advocate Surendra Singh for the accused; Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal for the complainant side
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