Bring Back Child Taken To Russia, This Is About Dignity Of This Court : Supreme Court To Centre
Gursimran Kaur Bakshi
3 Nov 2026 8:33 PM IST
"A boy has been taken away to Russia from the custody of the Supreme Court of India. This is no ordinary case," Justice Dipankar Datta said.
The Supreme Court today(November 3) adopted a strict view of the fact that India has been unable to bring back the child who was allegedly abducted from the Supreme Court's custody by his mother to Russia via Nepal. It has directed the assistance of Attorney General for India, Solicitor General of India and all other Additional Solicitors General to bring the child back into its custody.
A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu was informed that a note verbale has been filed in a sealed cover about the latest communication between the Russian Federation and India. As per the communication between the External Affairs Ministers from both sides, a video call can be arranged between the child in Russia and the father in India to ensure that the child is in safe hands.
After perusing the report, Justice Datta remarked that while arranging a video call can be done, the larger issue that remains is how the Russian woman challenged the integrity of the Supreme Court by abducting the child.
He said: "The larger problem, we would request the assistance of Attorney, Solicitor and all additional Solicitor Generals. A boy has been taken away to Russia from the custody of the Supreme Court of India. This is no ordinary case. When somebody is taken away from the custody of the Supreme Court of India, you have to throw all your weight and get the boy and present him before the Supreme Court. No video call business will do."
Justice Datta added: "A Russian mother and an Indian father has a son. Mother filed an Article 32 habeas corpus petition for the custody of the son. We arranged for the meeting of the mother with the son here in Delhi. Conduct of both: the less said is the better, but we had taken the son in our custody. The mother, allegedly with the help of the officials from Russian consulate, had escaped Russia through Nepal. From last one year, we have been trying to locate the son; he is not traceable. From the latest report, maybe we feel the Russian Federation is aware where the mother and the child are.
The child may be in safe hands but the bigger issue is that the child is in our custody. From our custody, in her writ petition, orders were passed to facilitate. The mother has taken away without the permission of the Supreme Court. We are not going to leave it at that. We want the Child back. How soon the child can the child be brought back? The Government of India in the highest level ensure that...This is about our institution, our dignity is at stake, our prestige is at stake. We could have thrown the petition on the first day but simply because we saw the mother, we took pity on her, but that doesn't mean she will take advantage of our leniency."
The matter has been adjourned for one month. It ordered: "The communication exchanged between the Russian department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of India has been rendered across the bar in a sealed cover. We wish both the governments in Russia and India to act as stated in para 3. The writ petition shall be listed in the month-end. The learned ASG Bhati is not present but learned ASG Venkataraman has conveyed the anxiety of the Court and the urgent need for bringing the child to India. In view of the fact that the petitioner allegedly escaped from India through Nepal, and we are prima facie convinced that such an action on the part of the petitioner without permission of this Court, apart from amounting to interference in the administration of justice, would lead to another consequences. The communication received should be kept in sealed cover in the court records."
The present case is a complex case where the Russian mother and the Indian father hold joint custody of the child as per various orders passed by this Court. However, last year, it was found that the Russian mother allegedly abducted the child from the father's custody and returned to Russia via Nepal. This was even though the child's Indian passport was surrendered before the Court. The Court passed orders that efforts must be made to bring the child back, and hinted that the Russian Embassy officials and the Indian authorities may be behind it, as the petitioner likely escaped on forged/fabricated documents.
Background
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 the treatment of the child. On 22 May, 2025, exclusive custody of the child was given to the Russian mother for 3 days a week. On the remaining days, he was to remain in the exclusive custody of the father.
Later, the father filed an application seeking compliance with the Court's May 22 order. He pointed out that his wife has not been traceable since 7 July, 2025 after school hours of the minor child. She is not available on the phone or at her residence. The minor child has not been taken to his requisite medical check-up or to 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, 2025 along with a Russian diplomat, with whom she is allegedly in some sort of relationship. It was further alleged that the police failed to provide protection to the minor child.
In this backdrop, the Supreme Court passed a stringent order on July 17, 2025,calling on the authorities to immediately trace the petitioner and return the custody of the child to the father. It also cautioned that if Russian embassy officials are found involved in the commission of an offence, the law will take its own course.
