The Supreme Court on Monday granted the custody of deceased Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash’s son to his estranged wife, Nikita Singhania, after dismissing a petition filed by Atul’s mother seeking custody of her grandson.
The Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order after interacting with the child.
The petitioner alleged in her plea that her daughter-in-law was not revealing the whereabouts of her grandson.
On December 20, the top court of the country had issued notice to the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka, directing them to ascertain the whereabouts of the minor child.
While Subhash was working in Bengaluru, Nikita was residing in Gurugram, Haryana. Her mother and brother were residing in Uttar Pradesh.
Subhas, a 34-year-old software engineer, had allegedly committed suicide in Bengaluru. He left behind an elaborate suicide note and also made a video accusing his estranged wife Nikita & her family of harassing him and filing false cases against him, driving him to take his life.
Subhash accused Nikita and her family members of harassing him through multiple matrimonial cases during a legal battle over divorce, alimony and child custody going on in a family court at Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district.
After uproar over the suicide, a first information report (FIR) was lodged in Bengaluru against Nikita and three members of her family under Sections 108 (abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (criminal act with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Nikita, her mother and her brother were subsequently arrested by the Bengaluru police. They were later granted bail by a Bengaluru court.