Overview

• The Supreme Court condemned Delhi Police for “sheer negligence” after Victoria Basu left Delhi on July 8 with her four-year-old in defiance of its May 22 vigil order
• A status report detailed Basu’s route: a taxi from Delhi to Narkatiaganj, crossing into Nepal, four days’ stay and a July 12 flight from Sharjah to Russia
• The bench held that using a duplicate passport to remove the child from court custody amounted to both contempt of court and criminal forgery
• Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi directed the Ministry of External Affairs to coordinate with Interpol, backed by the Indian embassy in Moscow, to locate the mother and child
• The court warned of stringent measures, including issuing a Red Corner notice, if the duo remains untraced and scheduled a follow-up hearing in ten days