During the hearing, the counsel appearing for Twisha’s husband, Samarth Singh, said that he had “no objection if the body of the deceased is subjected to a second postmortem”, though he expressed concern that the reputation of doctors at AIIMS Bhopal, “who are very good”, should not be tarnished.

The court also recorded submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, who strongly defended the integrity of the first postmortem while supporting the family’s request for a second examination.

“Conducting a second postmortem does not amount to raising a finger at anyone; rather, it is intended to bolster the confidence of every common person in the entire process, right from the investigation onwards,” the court recorded Mehta as submitting.

The Solicitor General further stated that he neither doubted “the correctness of the report or the competence of the concerned doctor”, but added that “in the best interest of everyone, a second postmortem may be directed”.

A significant portion of the hearing focused on logistical questions surrounding whether Twisha’s body should be transported to Delhi or whether a specialist forensic team should instead travel to Bhopal.

The court recorded that after discussions, the Advocate General informed the Bench that the Madhya Pradesh government was prepared to arrange “all the logistic” support necessary for a team constituted by AIIMS Delhi to travel to Bhopal by special flight and conduct the second postmortem there itself.

Accepting that arrangement, the court directed the Director of AIIMS Delhi to immediately constitute a team of experts who would travel to Bhopal “by special flight arranged by the State Government” to conduct the examination.

“After considering all the grounds, this Court is also of the view that, by directing a second postmortem, neither this Court nor the petitioner has directly or indirectly imputed any wrongful motive or cast any doubt upon the earlier postmortem report or on anyone,” the order states.

At the same time, the court emphasised the extraordinary circumstances of the case. “But death of deceased has taken place within six months of marriage, therefore, second postmortem should be conducted to clear all doubts from any quarter,” the judge observed.

The order contains detailed directions for coordination between AIIMS Delhi and the Madhya Pradesh government. The court directed that once the expert committee is constituted, the director of AIIMS Delhi should immediately send an official email to Additional Chief Secretary Shiv Shekhar Shukla and to the office of the Advocate General so that logistical arrangements could be made without delay.

The court further ordered that the second postmortem report be submitted “in a sealed envelope to the investigating agency”.

Importantly, the court also directed that the entire process be videographed. “Needless to say that with full dignity to the body and as per procedure, a videography shall also be done and record of that videography report shall be a part of the postmortem report,” the order stated.