Delhi HC cites another Russian mom’s case, grants 4-year-old girl’s custody to father

NEW DELHI: Citing an ongoing case where a Russian woman has left India despite the child custody dispute being heard by the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court has made an exception and granted custody of a four-year-old girl to her Indian father in another similar matter.The court said giving unrestricted custody to the Russian mother risked "snatching away the jurisdiction of Indian courts" as there was a reasonable apprehension she might leave India with the child."We also take judicial notice of various events that transpired in the recent past and which led to the hon'ble Supreme Court expressing their anguish for the man-ner in which a national of the same country was prima facie seen to have been assisted by the country's embassy officials to flee Indian shores.

The said matter, titled as Viktoriia Basu Vs. The State of West Bengal, remains pending before the hon'ble Supreme Court," a bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish V Shankar not-ed on Monday.

It upheld the decision of the trial court to give interim custody of the child, born in Russia, to the Indian father. HC made it clear that Viktoriia's actions had a bearing on the matter before it. Despite the apex court granting shared custody, the proceedings stand frustrated as, inter alia, and as apparently observed by SC, due to negligence of the authorities concerned, "the child was 'snatched' from the jurisdiction of the court", the high court pointed out.

Despite the Indian govt's repeated and concerted efforts, the case remains wrapped in diplomatic red tape, the bench highlighted, saying the "entire process of adjudication would be rendered meaningless if courts were unable to implement or enforce any orders/judgment". In the current case, both mother and daughter are Russian passport holders and the Russian embassy had, in 2023, tried to help in securing exit permits for them to leave India, it noted."Recent events, coupled with the facts and circumstances of the present case, lend to us a fairly high apprehension that in the event we interfere and, if the mother and minor daughter were to exit Indian shores, it would be an uphill task to get the orders/judgment(s) of Indian courts enforced," the bench said.While the mother argued that the trial court had ignored settled legal precedents and gave custody of a minor girl to the father, the high court said the daughter had stayed in India since almost immediately after her birth and was being raised during her formative years in India. "If handing over the custody to the appellant would mean that the minor daughter would be uprooted completely from the place and country she has been residing in and having adjusted to its environment, the same would not be in the best interest of the child," it noted, backing the order of a family court.As per the records, the couple tied the knot in 2013, and after a few years in Russia, shifted to India. Soon their marriage soured, leading to a bitter custody battle and divorce proceedings.