'Trace Her Immediately & Return Custody To Father' : Supreme Court Passes Rare Order To Prevent Russian Wife From Fleeing With Indian Man's Child
The Court asked authorities to seize the woman's passport and issue a Look-Out Circular against her.;
In a child custody matter, the Supreme Court today passed a one-of-a-kind order to trace the child who was last in custody of his Russian mother. The Court directed the Union and Delhi authorities to ensure that the Russian woman does not leave the country as well as to find her and handover the child to his Indian father.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was informed that “the Russian mother and the child have vanished into wilderness”.
Ultimately, to trace the 5-yr old child involved in the “ferocious” custody dispute, the Court passed the following stringent directions:
(i) Delhi police authorities, including the Commissioner, to trace the minor child without any loss of time and handover the unconditional custody of the child to the father;
(ii) Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs to issue look-out notices and ensure that the (Russian) mother is not permitted to leave the country;
(iii) The (Russian) mother's passport be seized forthwith; and
(iv) Officers of MEA to talk to officials in Russian embassy to seek permission to enter into residence of the diplomat who was lastly seen in the company of the (Russian) mother.
Notably, the bench asked the petitioner-wife's counsels about her whereabouts, but they claimed that they were not aware. This led the Court to prima facie doubt their bonafides as well. It was observed that the counsels' replies were evasive and vague. In no uncertain terms, Justice Kant warned of a strong order in future against the counsels.
“You people know everything…you think you can play mischief with us? We will take counsels also to task, not only the petitioner! You wait for the orders we will pass at appropriate time”, remarked the judge.
The petitioner-wife had filed the present petition before the Supreme Court, wherein several interim orders were passed from time to time. While she is a Russian citizen, the child's father (respondent No.2) is of Indian origin. Their 5-yr old child was born in 2020. Pursuant to the Court's orders, the couple had been residing in Delhi in separate accommodations having joint custody of the child.
There were allegations between the parties regarding treatment of the child. On 22 May, exclusive custody of the child was given to the Russian mother for 3 days in a week. On the remaining days, he was to remain in the exclusive custody of the father.
Recently, the father filed an application seeking compliance with the Court's May 22 order. He pointed out that his wife is not traceable since 7 July, after school hours of the minor child. She is not available on phone, or her residence. The minor child has not been taken to his requisite medical check-up or to the school.
Statedly, several complaints of the father remained unanswered and even his advocates were allegedly misled regarding the child's location. As per claims, the mother was seen entering the Russian embassy through a back door on 4 July along with a Russian diplomat, with whom she is allegedly in some sort of relationship. It is further alleged that the police failed to provide protection to the minor child.
Accordingly, the Court passed the above order. It also cautioned that if Russian embassy officials are found involved in commission of an offense, law will take its own course.
Case Title: VIKTORIIA BASU Versus THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS., W.P.(Crl.) No. 129/2023