NEW DELHI: Expressing serious concerns over a lack of concrete response from the Russian Embassy on the whereabouts of a Russian woman, who has reportedly fled to her country with her four-year-old child, the Supreme Court recently observed that it did not want to pass any order which could hurt India-Russia relationship.
The Supreme Court made these observations after being apprised by the Centre earlier that the woman, Victoria Basu, seems to have left the country with the minor through the Nepal border.
A two-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi stressed the need for proper coordination as it pointed out to the diplomatic challenge for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Indian Embassy in Moscow and Russian Embassy in Delhi to find a resolution of the issue and take steps to restore the child to the custody of the apex court.
“We do not want to pass any order that impacts the relations between the two countries but it is also an important matter as it is about a kid. We don’t want to hurt India-Russia ties, we are worried for the kid,” said the top court.
During the hearing on Friday, the bench was informed by the Centre that it is yet to receive some substantial assistance from the Russian Embassy in the matter about the whereabouts of Victoria.
It was hearing the plea of the father, Saikat Basu, who is fighting the custody battle of his child with the estranged Russian woman and alleged that she wasn’t complying with the court’s order of custody of the minor. The man claimed that the whereabouts of the woman and his child were unknown.
The court — after not being provided proper answer from the Centre — further granted the authorities two more weeks to reach out to Russian officials for assistance about the whereabouts of Victoria and the kid, as Justice Kant said, “But we hope it is not a case of child trafficking and he is not indulging in other exploitative activities in Russia.”
On being asked about whereabouts of Victoria, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Delhi Police and Union, replied that she personally spoke to the Embassy officials but did not get much help.