NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked Nikita Singhania, the estranged wife of a Bengaluru-based engineer who died by suicide last year, to present their minor son before the court via video-conferencing.
“This is a habeas corpus petition. We want to see the child. Produce the child,” the bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Saish Chandra Sharma said during the hearing.
The counsel assured the court that the child would be produced within 30 minutes.
The hearing comes in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Anju Devi, the grandmother of the four-year-old, seeking custody of the boy. Devi’s plea stems from her desire to raise her grandson after the death of her son Atul Subhash by suicide.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dismissed Devi’s plea for custody, stating she was a “stranger to the child.” Justices Bela M Trivedi and N Kotiswar Singh had noted that custody matters should be resolved in the appropriate trial court.
“Sorry to say, but the child is a stranger to the petitioner. If you wish, please visit the child. In case you want the custody of the child, there is a separate procedure,” the bench had said at the time.
During Monday’s proceedings, the court was informed that the child, who had dropped out of a school in Haryana, is now residing with his mother. The Supreme Court has agreed to continue hearing the matter.
Atul Subhash, 34, was found hanging at his residence in Bengaluru’s Munnekolalu on December 9 last year. In a 24-page suicide note and an 80-minute video, Subhash accused his wife and in-laws of making false allegations and demanding exorbitant sums for legal settlements.
His family has maintained their determination to seek justice, refusing to perform his last rites until their demands are addressed.
Anju Devi, the grieving mother, had said that raising her grandson would allow her to preserve her late son’s memory.
