The Karnataka High Court on Monday, January 6 rejected a plea filed by Nikita Singhania, wife of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash, who died by suicide who died by suicide in December 2024. Nikita had moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against her. A Bengaluru court had granted interim bail to Nikita, her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania on Saturday.
A single bench headed by Justice SR Krishna Kumar expressed disapproval of the demand by Subhash's wife stated that the FIR gives out everything to book the case under abetment of suicide. "What more can the bench look into? The prima facie ingredients of the offence are made out in the complaint. Why don't you want the investigation to happen?" the bench asked the petitioner.
The counsel for Nikita submitted to the court that no ingredients were made out in the complaint for registration of the FIR over the abetment of suicide. It was also submitted that the deceased Atul Subhash had not mentioned any act by his wife and family members which drew him to take his own life. The counsel further argued that the petitioner had the right to get legal remedies and could not be booked just for lodging a complaint against Atul Subhash.
The court issued notices to respondents and directed them to file objections. The direction was also given for the prosecution to submit the materials collected during the investigation.
With respect to the bail granted, the family of Atul Subhash has stated that after obtaining the order sheet, they would appeal against the decision in the High Court of Karnataka. According to the police, Nikita was arrested in Gurugram in Haryana, while Nisha and Anurag were tracked down in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on December 14.
Atul was found dead in his Munnekolala residence in Bengaluru on Monday, December 9. He had made a video before his death that is being widely shared. A suicide note and other documents that were reportedly left by him also went viral on social media websites. The note and the video accuse Atul’s wife and her family of extortion, and allege that a family court judge in Uttar Pradesh demanded a bribe to settle the maintenance case that his wife has filed against him.
Following his death, Atul’s brother, Bikas Kumar, filed a police complaint accusing Nikita, her mother, brother, and uncle of demanding Rs 3 crore to withdraw legal cases filed against Atul. The family allegedly sought Rs 30 lakh for granting Atul visitation rights to see his son.
(With inputs from IANS)