Atul Subhash suicide: Allahabad High Court grants transit anticipatory bail to estranged wife's uncle

The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted transit anticipatory bail to Sushil Singhania, one of the accused in the abetment of suicide case of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash..Sushil Singhania is the uncle of Nikita Singhania, the estranged wife of Atul Subhash.Besides Sushil, Nikita Singhania, her mother and brother had also moved the Court for anticipatory bail.Single-judge Justice Ashutosh Srivastava observed that since Nikita Singhania and her mother and brother were arrested in the case, the plea for transit anticipatory bail on their behalf had become infructuous. However, the Court granted relief to Sushil Singhania."Prima-facie, having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record, particularly, the suicide note, which has been brought on record as Annexure No. 3 to the affidavit filed in support of the Transit Anticipatory Bail Application, I find that the allegations for instigating suicide has been raised primarily against the Principal Judge, Family Court, Jaunpur, Smt. Reeta Kaushik, Mother-in-Law of the deceased namely Smt. Nisha Singhania, Wife of the deceased namely Smt. Nikita Singhania, and so far as the Applicant No. 4 is concerned, the allegations appear to be limited to extending threats to the deceased and his parents over the phone and in person for beating up, killing them and filing false cases," the Court said. .Subhash, a 34-year-old software engineer, had died by suicide in Bengaluru. He left behind an elaborate suicide note and also made a video blaming his wife Nikita Singhania and her family of harassing him and filing false cases against him, driving him to take his life.His video and suicide note sparked a debate on social media, with many calling for the arrest of Nikita and her family members.In the video, he was seen accusing Nikita Singhania and her family of harassing him through multiple matrimonial cases amid their ongoing legal battle over divorce, alimony and child custody in a family court in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur.Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was lodged in Bengaluru against Nikita and her three family members under Sections 108 (abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (criminal act with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023..Nikita, her mother Nisha Singhania, her brother Anurag Singhania and her uncle Sushil Singhania then filed an anticipatory bail plea on December 13 before High Court.However, Nikita, her mother and her brother were arrested by the Bengaluru police on Sunday and they were later remanded to judicial custody by a Bengaluru court for 14 days..During the hearing of the anticipatory bail today before the High Court, the counsel for the accused said that since the wife, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law of the deceased have already been arrested by the Bengaluru police, their transit anticipatory bail application had become infructuous. Hence, the plea was pressed only on behalf of Sushil Singhania.It was argued that Sushil, a 69-year-old elderly person with chronic medical issues, is virtually incapacitated and cannot be accused of abetting the suicide of Atul.It was further contended that there was a clear distinction between abetment and harassment, and even if the suicide note is accepted at face value, the allegations would at the most amount to harassment related to false cases and demands for money. Therefore, the offence under Sections 108 and 3(5) of the BNS cannot be established.Considering the arguments, the Court granted transit anticipatory bail to him subject to certain conditions. He was directed to furnish a bail bond of ₹50,000 along with two sureties..Senior Advocate Tejas Singh along with advocates Ajay Kumar Singh, and Aushim Luthra appeared for applicants.Government Advocate Ashutosh Kumar Sand and advocates Rajiv Kumar Singh and Shiv Veer Singh appeared for the State..[Read order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.