The Supreme Court slammed Delhi Police for allowing a Russian woman to flee India with her child amid a pending custody case. It ordered MEA to involve Interpol and warned of “harshest of orders.”
New Delhi: On August 1, the Supreme Court of India has come down heavily on the Centre and the Delhi Police for their failure to prevent a Russian woman, Victoria Basu, from fleeing India with her four-year-old child while a custody case was still pending before the top court.
The court expressed serious anger and warned the authorities that it would pass the “harshest of orders” if the matter is not handled with utmost seriousness.
A bench led by Justice Surya Kant observed that neither of the parents — Victoria Basu or her husband Saikat Basu — had been granted custody by the court yet. Despite this, the child was taken out of the country without the court’s permission.
“The matrimonial dispute and custody battle were pending with us, and we had not given custody to either father or mother. The child has been snatched away from the custody of the Supreme Court of India,”
said the bench, expressing deep concern over the incident.
The Supreme Court directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to urgently contact the Indian Embassy in Moscow and to also involve Interpol in the matter to help trace the woman and the child.
Justice Surya Kant also criticised the Delhi Police strongly, saying that the police’s careless approach was unacceptable.
“The child has been snatched away from the custody of the Supreme Court of India,”
the judge reiterated, emphasising that the judiciary’s authority had been undermined.
He further warned that the Supreme Court would “not spare anyone” responsible for this incident and will make sure the “police officers responsible are held accountable.”
The court made it clear that it was extremely upset with how the Delhi Police handled Saikat Basu’s complaint and called out the “negligence” that allowed Victoria Basu to escape so easily.
The latest status report submitted by the Delhi Police revealed that Victoria Basu travelled from Delhi to Narkatiaganj Railway Station in Bihar by taxi on July 8, then crossed into Nepal. From there, she flew to Sharjah on July 12. Eventually, she reached Russia.
When Delhi Police informed the court that international airlines were not sharing travel information about Victoria Basu, the court dismissed this as an excuse.
“No airline can claim privacy in a criminal matter,”
the court stated, rejecting the idea that privacy laws could prevent the court from getting crucial information in such a serious case.
Justice Amitava Roy Bagchi further directed that, since the Ministry of Home Affairs has already issued a lookout notice, the authorities must now take help from Interpol.
“They should seek the help of Interpol,”
he said, pressing for quick international action.
The Supreme Court also observed that the case does not only involve disobedience of its orders (contempt of court), but could also include “criminal forgery” by Victoria Basu.
This is because the child’s passport had been submitted to the Supreme Court earlier, yet the child managed to leave the country — raising serious doubts about how she obtained travel documents.
The court has now listed the case for further hearing after ten days and made it clear that it expects solid progress by then.
Saikat Basu had earlier approached the Supreme Court, seeking immediate steps to trace and bring back his child. In response, the Supreme Court had already asked the Delhi Police and the Centre to act without any delay.
In an earlier hearing, the Delhi Police had told the Supreme Court that they suspected Victoria Basu had taken the route through Bihar to Nepal and then travelled to Russia.
This had already alarmed the court, which had asked the Centre to activate diplomatic channels.
Finally, the bench also questioned how Victoria Basu managed to get passports to travel when the real passports were surrendered to the court.
The court noted,
“It also questioned the Embassy as to how they got passports when their real passports were surrendered to the court,”
CASE TITLE:
Viktoriia Basu v. State of West Bengal and Ors. W.P.(Crl.) No. 129/2023
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