In a recent decision, the Supreme Court has granted bail to Aadya Prasad Tiwari, an accused in the 2021 death case of Mahant Narendra Giri, the head of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad. The ruling, delivered on January 12, 2026, by a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, has set aside the Allahabad High Court's order from October 14, 2025, which had previously rejected Tiwari's bail plea.
Tiwari was arrested on September 22, 2021, in connection with the First Information Report (FIR) No. 322 of 2021, initially registered at the George Town police station in Prayagraj. The initial charges against him were under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to abetment of suicide. Later, additional charges of murder and conspiracy were added to the case. However, Tiwari is not considered the primary accused in the case.
The Supreme Court's decision to grant bail was influenced by the understanding that the trial is likely to take a considerable amount of time to conclude. The court has also laid down specific conditions for Tiwari's bail, stipulating that he must diligently attend all trial proceedings unless he is specifically exempted from doing so. Failure to comply with this condition could be treated as a breach of bail terms and potentially lead to the cancellation of his bail.
The case revolves around the death of Mahant Narendra Giri, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances inside his Math (monastery) in Prayagraj on September 20, 2021. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the investigation, filed a charge sheet in November 2021. In its charge sheet, the CBI stated that Mahant Narendra Giri was under immense mental distress due to the actions of his estranged disciple Anand Giri, along with Aadya Prasad Tiwari and his son Sandeep Tiwari. The CBI alleged that this distress led him to take his own life to avoid "defamation and insult" in the eyes of society.
The Supreme Court has clarified that its observations and decision to grant bail to Aadya Prasad Tiwari are solely for the purpose of addressing the bail plea. The court explicitly stated that these observations should not be interpreted as findings on the merits of the case itself. This clarification emphasizes that the trial will proceed based on its own merits, independent of the bail decision.
