New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- The Union government has approached US authorities seeking the deportation of a man who managed to leave the country despite his passport being deposited with the Supreme Court, which is pursuing contempt proceedings against him in a child custody dispute. A bench of justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi in an order released on Monday recorded a communication from the Centre confirming that the Central Bureau of Investigation's Interpol unit had written to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seeking the deportation of Manish Chhokar, and expressed satisfaction with the steps taken to secure his presence in India. The court adjourned the matter by four weeks, allowing the government more time to pursue the process. "In view of the steps taken by the Union of India to secure the presence of the respondent of which we are satisfied," it said. The development follows a series of steps initiated by the Supreme Court after Chhokar, a US Green Card holder, allegedly left India in January 2025 despite his Indian passport being in the court's custody and without its permission. The court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him and subsequently directed CBI to investigate how he managed to leave the country. The agency registered a case against him in March 2025. The latest order records that the CBI's National Central Bureau in New Delhi sent a communication dated September 30, 2026, to the FBI at the US Embassy in New Delhi, seeking Chhokar's deportation. The communication was enclosed with a letter dated October 13 addressed to the Legal Consultant in the MEA and placed before the court by the Centre's counsel. The court had earlier explored the options available to the government to secure Chhokar's return. In an order dated August 26, 2025, it recorded the Centre's assessment that extradition from the US might not be feasible because contempt of court, by itself, was not an extraditable offence under the applicable framework....