Supreme Court Grants Custody Of Atul Subhash's Son To Wife Nikita Singhania

The custody of the four-year-old son of Atul Subhash, a Bengaluru techie who died by suicide in December, and Nikita Singhania, his estranged wife accused by him of harassment leading to his death, will remain with his mother, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday evening.

The verdict was delivered by Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice SC Sharma, who made their decision after speaking with the child via video link. The ruling was in response to a plea by Anju Devi, Subhash's mother, who had sought custody of her grandson.

Earlier, the court directed Singhania's lawyer to produce the child. When the hearing began, the petitioners requested a week's time to file a more detailed affidavit. However, Justice Nagarathna rejected this, stating, "This is a habeas corpus (petition)... we want to see the child. Produce the child. The court will take up the matter after some time..."

This marks the second time in consecutive hearings that the court has insisted on seeing the boy. Earlier this month, Singhania informed the court that the child was enrolled at a boarding school in Faridabad, Haryana, but would be withdrawn to accompany her to Bengaluru.

"We will take the child to Bengaluru... We have taken the boy out of school. The mother must be in Bengaluru to fulfil bail conditions," her lawyer had said during the earlier hearing. Following this, a bench comprising Justice Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh directed that the child be presented before the court for the next hearing.

Singhania, along with her mother Nisha and brother Anurag, faces charges of abetting the suicide of 34-year-old Subhash. All three were arrested and subsequently granted bail.

After Singhania's arrest, Devi approached the Supreme Court to seek custody of her grandson. Subhash's father, Pawan Kumar, also publicly demanded custody of the child.

The petition alleged that neither Singhania nor her family disclosed the child's location. Singhania initially claimed the boy was with her uncle, Sushil Singhania, who later denied knowledge of the child's whereabouts. The court then directed the governments of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana to clarify the situation.

The court also noted that the child had spent little time with his grandmother. Justice Nagarathna remarked, "Sorry to say the child is a stranger to the petitioner," while also recognising that the matter of custody must first be heard by an appropriate lower court.

Atul Subhash and Nikita Singhania were married in 2019, and their son was born in 2020. In 2021, Singhania left their Bengaluru home following an altercation and, in 2022, filed a case against Subhash and his family members.

After two years of contentious disputes, Subhash died by suicide in his Bengaluru flat on 9 December.

In an 81-minute video and a 24-page suicide note, he accused Singhania and her family of filing false cases against him and his parents to extort Rs 3 crore. He also alleged that the justice system was biased in favour of women in such matters.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage and debate over the misuse of laws designed to protect women from cruelty by their husbands or in-laws.