The Karnataka High Court on Friday permitted the Union Government to issue documents to allow a Russian woman and her two minor daughters found living in a cave in Karnataka to return home.
The case was heard by a single-judge bench of Justice B M Shyam Prasad based on a petition by the Israeli father of the children.
The woman, Nina Kutina, had been found on July 11 in a cave in the Ramatirtha Hills in Kumta Taluk near Gokarna. The woman and the children did not possess any valid documents to stay in India, and had been living in the cave for around two months when they were found.
The children’s father, Dror Shlomo Goldstein, had previously filed a complaint at the Panaji police station in Goa last December when he was unable to find them in India. His petition before the high court sought the release of the children into his custody as well as an order permitting him to meet them.
The court noted on Friday that emergency travel documents issued by the Russian consulate were only valid until October 9. The court also noted from the communication between Nina Kutina and the Russian consulate that she had expressed that she wished to return to Russia as soon as possible.
Goldstein’s counsel had argued against any deportation on the grounds that it would be against the interests of the children, while the custody application was still pending. The bench stated, “This court must observe that this question is presented for consideration by the petitioner who cannot explain the reasons for the mother and the two children being in an isolated cave until they were found there and the authorities began action for their rehabilitation. This court must opine that it would only be just and reasonable to examine the question of the children’s best interest in the backdrop of this.”
The court noted that apart from the overstay in India and the Russian government issuing exit permits, “the other circumstance which is also significant is the communication by the mother herself stating that she wants to travel back to Russia with the children, and the response from the Russian consulate for her return with the children as early as possible. These circumstances overweigh every other…”.
Story continues below this ad
During the previous hearing on August 22, Goldstein’s counsel had argued that the best interests of the children ought to be kept in mind, pointing to the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. At the time, Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath had stated that the woman and her children were being looked after well at the Foreigners Restriction Centre for Women. He added that there would be no immediate initiation of deportation proceedings, pending the completion of DNA tests to ascertain the parentage of the younger child, as she lacked any documentation such as a birth certificate, a passport, etc.
