Delhi High Court directed state to file a status report before the next date of hearing on January 7
The Delhi High Court has ordered the registration of an FIR and transfer of case to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Crime Branch in the case of a senior citizen who has been missing since July, 2017.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar said the non-registration of an FIR in the matter till now was contrary to the standing orders of the Delhi Police.
The court issued notice to the state and directed it to file a status report under signature of the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) before the next date of hearing on January 7.
The order came on a habeas corpus plea filed by a woman seeking to find her father who went missing on July 10, 2017. He was 60 years old then.
According to her petition, a complaint regarding her father going missing was made to the police on December 5, 2017, but not FIR was lodged and he has also not been traced.
"We are shocked that no FIR was registered with regard to the father of the petitioner going missing despite passage of so much time. This is contrary to the Standing Order No 252/2019 issued by the Commissioner of Police," the bench said.
Delhi government's standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra told the court that a vigilance inquiry is on in relation to the said lapse.
He also told the bench that the then Investigating Officer who was looking into the case has since been transferred and he apparently took away the file with him, and there is no record available in the police station about the inquiry conducted so far.
"Looking to the aforesaid circumstances, we direct registration of the FIR with regard to the petitioner's father going missing and the same shall be transferred forthwith to AHTU, Crime Branch which shall conduct investigations in the matter," the court said.
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