Atul Subhash suicide case: Allahabad HC grants anticipatory bail to Sushil Singhania

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.