India-Russia ties restraining us: SC on kidnapping

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday noted the alleged involvement of Russian embassy officials in Delhi in the kidnapping of a child from the SC's custody by the mother and fleeing via Kathmandu-Sharjah to Moscow and said the strong relations between India and Russia is restraining it from commenting harshly on the handling of the case.

A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said this after additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bahti presented the status reports by ministry of external affairs and Delhi Police on the case relating to Russian woman Viktoriia Basu, who kidnapped the child from India during a pending matrimonial dispute in SC over his custody between her and his Indian father. The bench said it is now a diplomatic challenge for the 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 SC custody.

"We have a fair idea about how she escaped and with whose help. But given the strong bilateral relations between India and Russia, we are not commenting on the way the situation has emerged so far," the bench said.