"We have given directions from time to time but no progress has been made by the authorities to trace the husband and the child, and bring them to India.
"We, therefore, direct officials of Ministry of External Affairs to appear on September 29 and tell us what steps have they taken," a division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade said.
The had HC, on September 14 last year, had directed the Interpol wing of CBI to issue a red corner notice against the husband, an Italian national, who left India with his adopted 7-year-old daughter despite giving an undertaking that he would not take her abroad without the high court's permission.
The HC had also ordered issuing 'yellow corner notice' to bring back the child.
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The man and his Indian wife, who hails from Goa, are fighting a legal battle over the child's custody since 2011.
Pending the final hearing, the High Court granted the wife
access to the child. The HC also restrained the husband from taking the daughter to his native country without permission.
However, on August 19 last year, the HC was informed that the man had left for Italy with the daughter.
The wife received an order of Juvenile court in Venice which granted custody of the child to the husband. She produced a copy of the order before the HC, which observed that the Italian court was apparently not informed about the legal proceedings in India.
Rodrigues had informed the court that husband had disposed of his properties in Goa and Pune before leaving for Italy.
The bench had then observed, "He may have taken the child out of love and affection for her but prima facie it appears that the husband had abducted the child despite an undertaking to the court that he would not take his daughter to Italy."
Advocate Mihir Desai, appointed 'amicus curiae' (friend of the court), had said that in such cases, Ministry of External Affairs can inform the Indian embassy which can take further action to bring back a person from a foreign country.