Prayagraj:

The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Sushil Singhania, uncle of Nikita Singhania, in the suicide case of Artificial Intelligence engineer Atul Subhash.

The order was passed by Justice Ashutosh Srivastava who was hearing an anticipatory bail filed by Atul’s wife Nikita Singhania and in-laws.

Nikita Singhania was arrested from Gurugram, Haryana, while her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania were picked up from Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj for abetting Subhash’s suicide, a Bengaluru Police official said.

They were arrested on Saturday morning, brought to Bengaluru and sent to 14-days judicial custody after being produced before a local court, he said.

In the Allahabad High Court, senior counsel Manish Tiwary, at the very outset, submitted that the wife, mother-in-law and brother-in-law of the deceased have already been arrested by the Bengaluru City Police and the present anticipatory bail application is being pressed on behalf of the applicant Sushil Singhania alone.

It was argued that the arrests have been made on the basis of alleged suicide note and a video which have gone viral over the internet. Sushil Singhania is facing the media trial of the highest level, it was argued.

It was also submitted that Sushil Singhania is an elderly person of 69 years of age and has a chronic medical condition. He is virtually incapacitated and there is no question of him abetting the suicide, it was further submitted.

It was also argued that there is a distinction between abetment and harassment and if the suicide note is taken on its face value, the allegations levelled at most would be taken to be harassment for implicating the deceased in false cases and extracting huge sums of money.

In any case, the offence suicide under Section 108, 3(5) of the BNS cannot be said to be made out, it was argued.

It has also been argued that the Sushil Singhania be granted protection for reasonable time so that he is in a position to place his version before the court and the authorities concerned and take recourse to remedy available to him under the law before the court in the state of Karnataka from where the FIR emanates.

After hearing the counsels for the parties, the court observed, “Considering the above, the court is of the opinion that applicant Sushil Singhania is entitled to get the privilege of pre-arrest (Transit) Anticipatory.” “Accordingly, it is directed that in the event of arrest of the applicant in connection with the case crime no. 0682 of 2024 under Section 108, 3(5) of the BNS, Police Station Marathahalli, Bangaluru City, he shall be released on anticipatory bail in the aforesaid case till the submission of police report, if any under section 173 (2) CrPC on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Magistrate/Court concerned,” the court said.

The court also imposed some conditions like the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required. He shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police office and he shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court.

If the applicant has a passport, it shall be deposited by him before the SSP or SP concerned, the court said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

The family of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash, who died by suicide after alleging harassment by his estranged wife in videos and posts, has filed a police complaint against his wife, her family members, and a judge.

Bikas Kumar, the brother of the 34-year-old, has filed an FIR (First Information Report) in Bengaluru for abetment of suicide against his wife Nikita Singhania, her mother Nisha Singhania, her brother Anurag Singhania and her uncle Sushil Singhania.

Atul Subhash, who was from Uttar Pradesh but lived in Bengaluru and worked for a private firm, left a 24-page note detailing what he alleged was years of emotional distress because of harassment and multiple cases filed by his wife and her family, and a judge in Uttar Pradesh.

As details emerge of Atul Subhash’s note and videos, the family is in shock and has vowed to seek justice.

“My brother did everything for her. Whatever has happened was unfortunate. If he had ever discussed it with me or our father – we would have helped him get out of this situation…,” Bikas Kumar told reporters.

“I want to request the government of India and the President – that justice must be done to my brother if he is with truth otherwise give me the proof to show that he is wrong. There should be a proper investigation against the judge who is named in my brother’s suicide,” he said.

Bikas said even in his suicide notes, Atul Subhash wrote—‘ If I win from the system, devote my mortal remains in Ganga otherwise in a gutter outside the court.”

The FIR says Atul Subhash married Nikita Singhania in 2019 and they had a child together. The complaint alleges that after their divorce, Nikita Singhania and her family filed a false case against Atul Subhash and insisted on Rs 3 crore to settle the case.

The Bengaluru police received a call at 6:00 am on Monday about a suicide in a flat. The police found the flat bolted from inside. They broke in to find Atul Subhash hanging.

The police also found the 24-page note in which Atul Subhash wrote “Justice is Due” on every single page. Along with his wife and her family, Subhash also accused a family court judge in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur of not hearing him out, and an officer of the court of taking bribes in front of the judge. Atul claimed his wife had filed nine cases against him, including murder, sexual misconduct, harassment for money, domestic violence, and dowry.

Atul Subhash described the instances that he said drove him to his death. He recorded a video describing his alleged harassment and asking his family members not to immerse his ashes until he got justice. He also had a message for his four-year-old son, who he claimed had been kept away from him. The note also called for his parents to be given custody of his child.