The External Affairs Ministry has said all documents required to seek handing over the custody of two Indian children, now growing up in the Child Protection Services in Stavanger (Norway), would be submitted to the authorities early next week.
The documents would be taken by a team of officers to Norway to ensure that there was no delay in getting the custody of Abhigyan and Aishwarya, Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Brinda Karat told The Hindu here after speaking to officials in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Gunnar Torensen, head of the CPS in Stavanger, had told The Hindu in an interview that unless documents demanded by the authorities were received by them a week before the March 23 hearing of the case in the District Court, it could jeopardise the speedy return of the children.
The CPS that took the toddlers into custody in May last year after deciding that the parents were unable to look after them, had agreed to hand over their custody to their uncle. But, to do this, the authorities had on January 20, 2012 sought legal documents.
“I spoke to senior officials in the Foreign Office this [Saturday] morning and they have assured me on behalf of the External Affairs Minister that all documents would be handed over to the Child Protection Services early next week for further processing so that there are no further delays when the case comes up for hearing. I was also assured that senior officials from India would be visiting Norway again next week to further pursue the case,” Ms. Karat said.