Child custody row: SC asks MEA, Delhi police to examine "collusion" of Russian embassy officials

New Delhi: In a child custody matter, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Ministry of External Affairs and the Delhi police to look into possibility of collusion of some Russian embassy officials with a Russian woman - Victoria Basu - who has allegedly absconded with a five-year-old son from her marriage to an Indian man, Saikat Basu.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Delhi Police, informed a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi that the Russian mother, involved in a bitter custody battle of her child with her estranged husband, has not left the country.

She said they have not left the country at least through legal means, and Look Out Circular has been issued against the woman and her child and they have also issued hue and cry notices across all police stations of the country.

The bench was informed that the Russian ambassador to India had informed the concerned authorities that on July 10, that the woman's mother had called from Russia to say that she could not be traced or contacted and thereafter they had informed Delhi Police.

The bench directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the police to also probe the alleged association of the Russian embassy officials with the woman. The bench asked the Centre to examine whether the embassy officials helped her in moving out of the country on a different passport.

Bhati said the Russian mother was of very frugal means and has only Rs 160 in her bank account. The bench was informed that the last withdrawn account from her bank account was Rs 250. After learning that the woman had just Rs 160 in her bank account, the bench said this is a very precarious situation.

The bench wondered how she is sustaining herself and the child, as the husband is not paying anything to her and even the court has not given her anything.

Bhati said the Russian embassy was cooperating with the investigation. She said, it is learnt that the woman visited the embassy’s consular section on July 5 and left the embassy in an hour.

The bench asked the authorities to check whether she had left the national capital to some other destination. Bhati said notices have been sent to all superintendent of police across the country. The apex court is likely to take up the matter on Monday. The child’s father had claimed that the whereabouts of the woman and his child were unknown.

The husband has claimed that his estranged wife had been seen secretly entering the Russian embassy in Delhi. He contended before the apex court that he feared mother and child may have fled India.

The bench directed for the seizure of the mother's passport and also asked the MEA officers to talk with Russian embassy officials to seek permission to enter into the residence of the diplomat who was last seen with the Russian woman.

The child’s father had claimed that there was a custody deal according to which the boy spends three days a week with his mother, and she took custody of the boy on May 22. The father contended before the apex court that he saw the child last time in May. The couple met in China where the man was working as an engineer for a software company. They got married in India in 2017.