The Delhi High Court through the Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Amit Sharma directed the Police authorities to diligently investigate and trace the two school children who have been missing since July 2024 . The same was ordered exactly after a month in favour of the petitioner father who was represented by Advocate Anam Siddiqui in Criminal Writ Petition No. 2419 of 2024.
Background
The Division Bench was dealing with a writ of habeas corpus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The same was presented by a father seeking production of his son who was about 14 years old. The teenage boy was a school student who left for school on July 9, 2024 and did not return. A complaint and FIR were also filed under Section 137 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on July 10, 2024.
The petitioner father had pointed out that another child was also missing since then and both the children were in the same school. The petitioner father expressed apprehension that the father of the other child was aware of the whereabouts of the two children.
The Status Report submitted by the Police reflected that the two children were last seen in their school with other students, on the day they went missing. A CCTV footage was also recovered which revealed that the two missing children were seen accompanied by another boy till the Uttar Pradesh border, who seems to have returned thereafter, while the two children were still missing.
Delhi High Court Order
With this, the Court ordered for the investigation to continue diligently. It further directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to extend necessary cooperation for tracing the two missing children. In addition, the Court directed the ACP concerned to form a team for locating the two missing children.
The matter is listed for next hearing on August 29, 2024.
Also read – 5 Types of Writs
