NEW DELHI: The mother of Atul Subhash, the Bengaluru engineer who ended his life on December 9 by suicide, sparking a debate on misuse of dowry prohibition laws, has approached the Supreme Court seeking custody of her four-year-old grandson.
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A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh heard the plea by Anju Devi, and issued notices to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Karnataka governments on the habeas corpus petition.
The bench fixed the matter for further hearing on January 7.
Subhash, before his death, left behind video and written notes alleging harassment and false accusations from his wife and in-laws, corruption in law enforcement agencies and courts, triggering massive outrage across the country over misuse of dowry prohibition laws.
His mother Anju Devi sought the custody of her grandson whose whereabouts are unknown, after the arrest of her daughter in law and her family members by the Bengaluru police.
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Devi filed the petition through advocate Kumar Dushyant Singh.
Senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal represented her before the apex court.
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In her petition, Devi sought a direction 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.
Her plea claimed the child was deliberately kept away from the reach of his biological father by the mother to cause severe mental agony to him. The plea submitted that Atul suffered severe mental harassment and cruelty at the hands of his wife.
The petition claimed that neither Subhash's estranged wife Nikita Singhania, nor her family members - currently in custody - have disclosed the child's whereabouts.
“As the biological father and natural guardian of the child is no more and his biological mother and the maternal grandmother are under arrest and in custody, the petitioner who is the paternal grandmother of the child has approached this court by way of this petition fearing for the life and liberty of the said child whose whereabouts are unknown,” the plea said.
Nikita Singhania, along with her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania, were arrested on December 16 for the offence of abetment of suicide by the Karnataka police.
In all possibilities, the chances are the mother of the child have kept him in detention in unknown’s custody, who is not entitled for it, the plea said.
“The mental well-being of the subject child of tender age has to be given utmost importance in the present facts and circumstances of the case where its father is no more and the mother is arrested by the respondent police and the petitioner is best suited therefore to have the custody of the subject child," the plea said.
Earlier, after the incident, Atul's father, and brother have demanded custody of the child, apprehending threat to his well being.
