New Delhi, Jul 3 The Delhi High Court has asked the CBI to request the Interpol to issue a Red Corner notice against a UK citizen to secure his presence, after he deliberately disobeyed directions to pay maintenance to his minor daughter.
Justice Sachin Datta sentenced the man to simple imprisonment of six months for being in contempt of court and sought the issuance of the Red Corner notice for "locating, arresting and detaining him" to enforce the punishment.
The judge observed that the man's conduct left no doubt that his disobedience of judicial orders to pay Rs 1.4 lakh per month towards his daughter's maintenance was "deliberate and calculated", and it demonstrated "complete disregard for judicial authority".
Noting that the contemnor, an OCI-card holder, had refused to submit himself to the jurisdiction of Indian courts and deliberately abstained from appearing in the present proceedings, Justice Datta said it is appropriate to invoke the mechanism of a Red Corner notice.
"Accordingly, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is directed to make an appropriate request to INTERPOL for issuance of a Red Corner Notice against respondent no. 1, in terms of INTERPOL's Rules on the Processing of Data, for the purposes of locating, arresting and detaining him, and for informing the CBI as well as this court of his whereabouts," the court said in its order dated July 1 on a contempt petition filed by the man's former wife.
"This court further directs the CBI to take appropriate steps for issuance of a diffusion under section 4 (Article 97) of the Interpol Rules on the Processing of Data, for the purposes of locating/tracing, apprehending and detaining respondent no. 1," it added.
Directing the authorities to prepare the arrest warrants and committal warrants, Justice Datta asked the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to intimate the police authorities or the CBI to take necessary steps to secure the arrest of the contemnor upon his arrival in India and ensure the execution of the sentence.
In October 2023, a family court had directed the man to continue paying Rs 1.4 lakh per month to the petitioner as an interim measure to protect the interests and welfare of their minor daughter.
In November 2023, a division bench of the high court, on an appeal by the man, directed him to continue making the payments in two equal instalments on a quarterly basis.
After he failed to obey the directions, the petitioner filed the contempt case.
Both parties were Indian citizens when they got married in 2005.
In the judgment, the court said the contemnor not only failed to comply with the 2023 order, but also "knowingly and wilfully disobeyed the orders passed in the present proceedings as well" and subsequently, refused to appear and participate in proceedings before courts in India.
"It is simply not permissible for the respondent no. 1 to evade/avoid these and other related matrimonial proceedings in which very serious allegations have been made. The complete evasion/avoidance of these proceedings by the respondent no.1, especially in the context of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, exacerbates allegations of wilful disobedience of order/s passed by this court," the court said.
"The respondent no.1 is in flagrant breach of, and has shown complete disregard for, the orders passed by the learned family court, the division bench of this court, as well as this court. His conduct has, in effect, made a mockery of the judicial process and strikes at the very authority and dignity of the court," it added.
