New Delhi: The mother of Bengaluru-based Atul Subhash, who committed suicide allegedly over the demand of Rs 3 crore for a divorce settlement, has filed a habeas corpus before the Supreme Court seeking custody of her four-year-old grandson.
The petition said that the whereabouts of the minor child is unknown and in all possibilities the child is detained in the illegal custody of a person who is not authorised in law to have his custody after Atul Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania was apprehended by Bengaluru Police.
The habeas corpus plea sought direction to the police authorities to produce the minor child before the apex court and to hand over his custody to her grandmother.
The matter was listed and heard on Friday by a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh.
AI engineer Atul Subhash, 34, ended his life at his apartment in the early hours of December 9, leaving behind a 90-minute video and a 40-page death note, explaining how harassment by his wife Nikita Singhania and her family compelled him to take the extreme step.
On a complaint filed by the brother of the deceased, the Bengaluru Police registered an FIR against the estranged wife and others for abetment to suicide.
Nikita Singhania was arrested from Haryana’s Gurugram and her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania were nabbed in Prayagaraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Following the sensational Atul Subhash suicide case, a public interest litigation (PIL) has also been filed before the top court seeking to protect the “drastic condition and fate” of married men after implication in “false” dowry and domestic violence cases.
There have been many incidents and “cases of false implication of men in dowry cases which have led to a very tragic end” and also raised questions on our justice and criminal investigation system, the plea said.
It added that because of these false implications of married men under these laws, the real and true incidents against the women are looked at with suspicion.
“This is not only about one Atul Subhash but there have been lakhs of men who have committed suicide because of multiple cases showered upon them by their wives. The gross misuse of the dowry laws have defeated the purpose of these laws for which they were enacted,” said the petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari.
The PIL sought directions to constitute an expert committee of retired judges, lawyers and eminent legal jurists headed by a former Supreme Court judge to review and reform the existing dowry and domestic violence laws and give suggestions to prevent their misuse.
(IANS)
