Bengaluru techie’s mother moves SC for custody of grandson

Days after Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash died by suicide, allegedly due to harassment by his wife and in-laws, his mother has moved the Supreme Court to seek custody of her grandson, saying the minor was in illegal custody of some unknown persons.

In a habeas corpus petition filed through Advocate-on-Record Kumar Dushyant Singh, Anju Devi sought to highlight that the child’s biological father and natural guardian was no more and his biological mother Nikita Singhania and maternal grandmother – both were under arrest.

Alleging that the minor was in illegal custody of some unknown persons, she wanted the top court to order the authorities to produce the child. Fearing for the life and liberty of her grandson, Devi urged the court to hand over the child’s custody to her as she was the paternal grandmother of the minor.

A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotishwar Singh on Friday asked the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka to ascertain the whereabouts of the minor child and posted the matter for further hearing on January 7, 2025.

The direction came after senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, representing Devi, expressed apprehensions about the child’s safety. “In the midst of all these things, the whereabouts of the subject child is unknown and in all possibilities, the child is detained in the illegal custody of a person, who is not authorised to have his custody,” the petitioner submitted.

It has been learnt from the Bengaluru police that Nikita disclosed the location of the minor child at Faridabad in Haryana, but refused to disclose any further information about his whereabouts, the petitioner said.

Atul Subhash — a 34-year-old software engineer who died by suicide in Bengaluru on December 9 – left a 24-page suicide note and an 80-minute video, in which he accused his estranged wife and her family of slapping nine cases on him and his family to extort money from them.