"In case of any delay, the police officials shall file a quarterly status report."
The Delhi High Court has directed the city police to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to locate and recover within two weeks a boy who went missing in 2020 at the age of 17 years.
A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, while dealing with a habeas corpus petition by the boy's parent, directed the police to produce the missing child before a metropolitan magistrate expeditiously.
A habeas corpus petition is filed seeking direction to produce a person who is missing or illegally detained.
The petitioner said that in August 2020, his minor son had gone to a canal near Haiderpur Treatment Plant in Rohini along with his cousin and six other friends but he did not return home.
The petitioner submitted several police complaints were then filed before the offices of ACP, DCP, commissioner of Delhi Police and numerous complaints were also sent to the Delhi lieutenant governor, Prime Minister of India and the metropolitan magistrate but to no avail.
The court noted that all possible efforts have been made pursuant to the FIR registered in the matter and closed the proceedings in the petition with a direction for constitution of an SIT.
"In light of the aforesaid and since all possible efforts to trace the missing boy have been made and the FIR is pending investigation, we hereby dispose of the present writ petition directing the DCP concerned to set up an SIT to locate, recover and produce the missing child before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate expeditiously, preferably within a period of two weeks," the bench, also comprising Justice Shalinder Kaur, ordered recently.
In case of any delay, the police officials shall file a quarterly status report before the trial court concerned and if any clue is found, the same shall be transmitted to the petitioner, ordered the high court.
In the order, the court noted that as per the latest status report given by the police, various letters were sent to different organizations and offices to search for the missing child but no clues were found.
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