R. Kelly back in court - is anyone surprised?

HE NEWS coming out of the  New York Post 's Page Six yesterday not only seems par for the course, but also begs the question: When is  R. Kelly  not headed to court?

Our gossip colleagues report that the R&B singer has fallen behind on child-support payments, failing to pay $20,833 a month that he owes his former wife, Andrea Kelly, and could potentially face the Big House. This, after he fell behind by $100,000 in payments last year to his ex, star of VH1's "Hollywood Exes." He eventually paid that debt off.

To compound Kelly's troubles, the record producer believed he could fly the coop and is underground and out of touch, a source told the newspaper. One of his numerous lawyers, James Quigley, has told Kelly's people that if he fails to appear at a March 27 hearing in his child-custody battle in Chicago, the judge could put him in jail. Kelly already was a no-show for a November hearing, the Post reported.

Quigley "is worried the judge could lock Kelly up if he doesn't show this time, but he can't reach his client," the source said.

Police in India have asked actor Robert De Niro for help as they look into allegations against investigative journalist Tarun J. Tejpal, accused in the sexual assault of a female colleague on an elevator during a conference in Gao, the Associated Press reported.

Turns out Tejpal had been tasked during the conference to escort De Niro and his daughter to events, according to the New York Times.

Tejpal, editor of Tehelka, an investigative magazine that rails against sexual violence and corruption, has been jailed since Nov. 30. Police have asked De Niro for information, but he has been unavailable due to his travel schedule, the Times said.

Nearly two months after they were released from prison, members of the punk protest group Pussy Riot claimed this week that they were detained while in Sochi, the New York Times reported.

Former prisoners Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, along with eight other members of the group, live-tweeted their arrests, including taking a pic inside the police vehicle during their ride to the station, the paper reported.

Pussy Riot had been working on a new song in central Sochi, about 30 minutes away from Olympic Park, when they were pinched. Police claim they were questioned regarding a theft from the hotel where Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were staying.

Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said the questioning was a pretext for messing with production of the new song "Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland."

* The USA-Russia hockey thriller may be over, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding on to that disallowed goal.

"Even referees sometimes makes mistakes, here I wouldn't tar anybody with any brush, but I thought that we would win by a big margin," Putin said, according to Yahoo Sports.

"You and I shouldn't forget that sport isn't only about skill but also about the athletes' courage, and even a good slice of luck," Putin added.

Is someone saying that the Russian team blew it?

"Stay Classy" performer Miley Cyrus has some new dance moves in her latest tour, a performance that Team Hillary would probably disapprove of: Male dancer dons Bill Clinton mask and Cyrus kneels in front of him to simulate oral sex.

* Grammy winner John Legend will speak at the May 19 commencement for the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater, Penn announced yesterday.

* Actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody allegedly got hitched in a supersecret wedding, Us Weekly reports. The couple got engaged in November.

- Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

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