Smita Gate (IAS Officer) Wiki, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Smita Gate is an IAS officer, and she is known for being the ex-wife of the popular Indian television actor Nitish Bharadwaj.

Wiki/Biography

Smita Gate was born on Wednesday, 16 March 1966 (age 55 years; as of 2021), in Pune. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She did her schooling at Central School Lohegaon, Pune from 1978 to 1982. She did her 12th standard from Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce, Pune. In 1981, she attended Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune. Later, she did B. Sc. in Microbiology at Garware College of Science and Arts, Pune in 1987. She is a post-graduate in Sociology.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black

Family & Caste

Smita was born in a Hindu family.

Parents & Siblings

She has one brother, Sunil Gate, who worked as a manager at The Times of India.

Relationship, Husband & Children

After getting divorced from Monisha Patil in 2005, Nitish Bharadwaj got married to Smita Gate on 14 March 2009. At that time, Smita had also divorced her first husband. In an interview, Nitish talked about his meeting with Smita, he said,

Initially, we knew each other as friends. We have a common family friend who asked to consider marrying each other. We thought about it and met a couple of times after that. We found that we were very compatible and hence we are going ahead with the marriage.”

The couple is blessed with twin daughters; Devyani (name of a queen in Mahabharata) and Shivranjani (named after a raag).

In January 2022, Nitish and Smita ended their 12-year-long marriage.

Career

In 1992, she became an IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. In February 2009, she was posted as the executive director of Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC). Within a few months of joining, she found that there were some irregularities in the functioning of the department. She asked for an inquiry commission to set up and look into the whole matter. No action was taken on her appeal, and she was ordered back to her cadre in May 2010. In an interview, her husband, Nitish said,

This order came when she was in Brazil and Argentina for an official visit. The SRTEPC governing council sent a letter to Ministry of Textile (MoT) and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) saying it did not need Smita’s services. Without asking any questions, the Ministry repatriated her to Madhya Pradesh. We were really surprised to hear this. Smita had been sent to SRTEPC on deputation. There is no provision in the rules provision in the rules for her to join a private company on her own.

Smita filed an RTI application in its counter; demanding the details of her transfer. When her case was presented to CAT, the judges involved in the case, Jog Singh and Sudhakar Mishra found that she was on deputation, and she did not join SRTEPC on her own will. Smita’s lawyer said,

The kind of arguments and false representation that DoPT gave in the case were shocking. Nowhere can IAS officers of their discretion join a private company merely on an NoC.”

In 2015, she was appointed as Managing Director, M. P. Financial Corporation in Indore.

Controversy

Accusations of Harassment 

On 14 February 2024, Nitish Bharadwaj submitted a written complaint to Harinarayanachari Mishra, the Commissioner of Police in Bhopal, accusing her of harassment, unruly behaviour, and preventing him from seeing his children.