Supreme Court Allows Atul Subhash's Wife To Keep Minor Son With Her After Speaking To The Boy Via Video Conferencing

The child will leave a boarding school from Haryana to join his mother who has moved to Bengaluru as mandated by her bail conditions.

New Delhi: In a setback to the family of the deceased Bengaluru techie, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant custody of his child to his family, after speaking to the boy in via videoconferencing. The court allowed the four-year-old to continue to stay with his mother.

In December last years, Atul Subhash had died by suicide accusing Nikita Singhania, his estranged wife, of harassment. His mother has filed a habeas corpus plea before the top court.

The petition came up before a bench comprising justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma. The two judges conversed with the boy through a video link. After speaking with the child, the apex court decided that his custody will remain with the mother. It declined to entertain a plea from Anju Devi, Subhash's mother, seeking the boy's custody.

At the beginning of the hearing, the petitioner sought a week's time to file a more detailed affidavit in the matter. However, Justice Nagarathna made it clear that the court is not willing to entertain any such request. The bench said, "This is a habeas corpus (petition), we want to see the child, produce the child...," and told the parties that it will take up the matter after sometime. The counsel appearing for Singhania said he would produce the child within 30 minutes. After a break of 45 minutes, the boy appeared on a video link, at that time the court went offline.

On January 7, the top court denied Devi the custody of the minor child saying she was "stranger to the child". Singhania’s counsel had informed a bench led by Justice Nagarathna that the child was at a boarding school in Faridabad, Haryana. The counsel contended that the child would be taken to Bengaluru where he can stay with his mother. Nikita, her mother Nisha, and her brother Anurag are facing an abetment to suicide case and are currently out on bail.

Singhania's counsel submitted that in order to fulfil bail conditions, the mother has to remain in Bengaluru and the family has taken the boy out of the boarding school and they will take the child to Bengaluru.

Subhash, 34, who was found dead at his house in Bengaluru's Munnekolalu on December 9 last year, purportedly left behind lengthy messages, blaming his wife and in-laws for pushing him to take the extreme step.

Devi, in the petition, contended that she is seeking issuance of a writ in the nature of habeas corpus to the respondent police authorities to trace and produce her grandson aged about 4 years and 9 months from the illegal custody of whomever at the instance of his mother.