New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday was informed that the four-year-old son of the techie Atul Subhash was at a boarding school in Haryana's Faridabad. Subhash allegedly died by suicide in December 2024 after accusing his wife Nikita Singhania and her family members of harassing him and his parents by filing false cases against them.
The apex court observed that the child is a stranger to his grandmother and made it clear that Singhania is yet to be proven guilty and the matter cannot be decided on the basis of a media trial.
Singhania’s counsel informed a bench led by Justice B V 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.
During the hearing today, Singhania’s counsel submitted that in order to fulfil bail conditions, the mother has to remain in Bengaluru. The counsel said the family has taken out the boy out of the boarding school and they will take the child to Bengaluru.
The bench, also comprising Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, orally observed that the child must be produced in court on the next hearing. The apex court was hearing a plea by Atul's mother Anju Devi, seeking custody of her grandson.
Devi’s counsel argued that his client was the grandmother of the child and she should be given his custody while stressing that the boy was only four-year-old, and he should not be sent to a boarding school.
Singhania’s counsel submitted that the boy was enrolled in a Faridabad boarding school and was there during the arrest of his mother. The apex court emphasised that Singhania is yet to be proven guilty and the matter cannot be decided on the basis of a "media trial".
The bench observed that the child has not spent a lot of time with his grandmother. "Sorry to say but the child is a stranger to the petitioner," said the bench. Subash’s mother’s counsel said they have pictures of their client interacting with the child when he was two years old. However, the bench did not grant interim relief to the petitioner regarding meeting with her grandson.
The apex court said the child custody issue would have to be taken up in the appropriate court where the trial is on. The apex court sought an affidavit from the Haryana government and the child's mother in connection with the child’s custody and scheduled the matter for a next hearing on January 20.
Subhash left behind video and written notes alleging harassment and false accusations from his wife and in-laws. Subhash’s mother Anju Devi has filed a habeas corpus petition to secure the custody of her grandson. Devi moved the apex court through advocate Kumar Dushyant Singh.
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 Nikita Singhania, Atul’s wife.
The plea contended that petitioner’s grandson was deliberately kept away from the reach of his biological father by the mother in order to cause severe mental agony to him. The plea submitted that Atul suffered severe mental harassment and cruelty at the hands of his wife.
