The Supreme Court on Friday registered its anxiety over the fact that Russian Embassy had given no concrete answer as to the whereabouts of a Russian woman, who had allegedly reportedly left her country with her four-year old child, amid a custody dispute with her estranged Indian husband.
The Centre had previously reported to the top court that the woman, Victoria Basu appears to have exited the country with the minor allegedly using the Nepal border and may have made it to her country.
We do not want to make any order that can influence relations between the two countries but this is also a significant issue, as it concerns on a kid! The Centre reported that it is not yet receiving some substantial assistance of the Russian Embassy in the issue, to which a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said in response.
One can just hope that the child is well and healthy like he is with the mother. However, we do not want it to be an issue of child-trafficking and he is getting himself involved in other types of exploitation within Russia and so it gave the authorities two weeks more to contact the Russian authorities to help them.
Both India and Russia have just finished 25 years of their strategic alliance and the two parties are also planning the Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to India which is expected to take place in the first part of December.
The concerns were raised by the top court that was looking at two status reports – one prepared by the Delhi Police and another by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which elaborated on the efforts that were being made in trying to trace Victoria and the boy.
The father Saikat Basu of the child is in the fight to have custody of his child against the alienated Russian woman. The man replied that he does not know where the woman and the child are in the event of the impending case.
In their report, MEA indicated that the Indian Embassy in Moscow had approached its counterparts in Russia but they had no answer. It also claimed that it was working together with the Delhi Police to question individuals in Nepal who were allegedly one of those who helped Victoria escape.
The Delhi Police, in its turn, claimed that it had approached the Russian Embassy, which was of no use. It added that it had also contacted the Bank of Russia, with which Victoria carried out different transactions, though, it did not receive any reply.
Soliacur General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati informed the court that she herself was speaking to the Embassy officials but was not helped much.
The Centre informed the court that it was roadblocked on information on the Russian side, even though it was trying its best.
Victoria is a Russian nation, and she has been living in India since 2019 since she initially came to India on an X-1 Visa, which also expired later. Nevertheless, when the court proceedings were pending, the highest court ordered the renewal of the visa every now and then.
The highest court had ordered MEA in August to contact the Russian embassy in Moscow and request Interpol assistance in tracing the Russian woman. It noticed that the child is stolen under its care and instructed the Centre and Delhi cops of strictest of instructions.
The matrimonial wrangle and the custody tussle had been pending with us and we had not entrusted custody to either father or mother. The bench said that the Supreme Court of India has been deprived of the custody of the child.
Justice Kant also raised the issue of Delhi Police on its negligence on the case and declared that it would be liable and answerable. It claimed that the cops had not acted on the complaint made by Saikat on time, Victoria would not have been able to escape the country.
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