By Shalini Bhardwaj

New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): The AIIMS medical board that conducted a court-ordered second postmortem in the Twisha Sharma death case has submitted its final forensic opinion to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a sealed cover, resolving a key forensic dispute over the ligature material allegedly used for hanging, including a gymnastics belt with a metal ring.

The key forensic dispute was whether the gymnastics belt with a metal ring, allegedly used for hanging, was the actual ligature and whether it matched the injuries on Twisha Sharma's neck.

The first postmortem could not establish this because the alleged ligature material was not produced before the medical board during the autopsy, prompting the Madhya Pradesh High Court to order a second postmortem by an AIIMS Delhi medical board.

Sources said laboratory and histopathological examinations confirmed the presence of skin tissue on the ligature material, establishing that it matched the injury pattern. The board's final opinion, however, remains confidential as it has been submitted to the CBI in a sealed cover in compliance with court directions.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur, in its May 22 order in Writ Petition No. 19119/2026, directed the constitution of a medical board to conduct a second postmortem examination in the death of Twisha Sharma.

Acting on the court's directions, the Director of AIIMS New Delhi constituted a five-member medical board comprising doctors from the Department of Forensic Medicine. The board conducted the second postmortem examination on May 24 and also visited the crime scene.

The High Court had directed that the report be submitted to the investigating agency in a sealed cover. In compliance with the order, the medical board handed over its 11-page medical opinion to the CBI on July 10 in a sealed cover for investigation, and the same was communicated to the Registrar General of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

While declining to disclose the findings in view of the High Court's directions and subsequent Supreme Court orders, Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS, said the board examined every aspect of the case before arriving at its conclusion.

'The medical board deliberated very minutely on the case from all possible angles, took into consideration all available national and international journals for almost one month and has given a detailed opinion with scientific justification. It is a crystal-clear opinion for the CBI and for the judiciary in the interest of truth and justice,' Dr Gupta said.

He declined to elaborate further, saying the report had been submitted to the CBI in a sealed cover in compliance with court directions.

According to the forwarding letter, the AIIMS board handed the sealed report to the CBI investigating officer, while the videography of the second postmortem remains with the investigating agency.

Twisha Sharma, daughter-in-law of retired Principal District and Sessions Judge Giribala Singh, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal earlier this year. Alleging lapses in the initial investigation and postmortem, her family approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which ordered a second postmortem by AIIMS Delhi and later handed the probe to the CBI.

The AIIMS opinion is expected to form a crucial piece of forensic evidence in the CBI's ongoing investigation. (ANI)