The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday sought detailed responses from top Uttar Pradesh officials over the issue of a large number of missing person cases in the state, observing that the absence of a clear mechanism to trace such persons raises serious concerns. The court noted that if no standard procedure exists, the state must formulate a proper standard operating procedure (SOP).
Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), the division bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) to explain the steps being taken to trace missing persons across the state. The court was informed that around 1.08 lakh missing person cases are currently pending in Uttar Pradesh.
The bench ordered both senior officials to appear before the court via video conferencing on March 23, the next date of hearing. It also asked them to file their personal affidavits by that date, detailing the mechanisms in place, the actions taken so far, and the reasons for the alleged lack of effective follow-up in these cases.
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The court further sought detailed records and data related to missing persons, including efforts made by the police to trace them. It asked the authorities to justify why proper and timely action was not taken in a significant number of cases, stressing the human and social implications involved for affected families.
During the hearing, the judges specifically questioned what systems or protocols the state police are currently using to track missing individuals across districts. Observing that an absence of a uniform procedure cannot be justified, the court said the state should immediately work towards framing a comprehensive SOP if one does not already exist.
The PIL was registered following a high court order dated January 29, when another division bench directed that the matter be formally taken up and listed for hearing. Advocate Onkar Nath Pandey appeared for the petitioner, while government advocate V.K. Singh represented the state. Further proceedings are expected to examine accountability and systemic reforms in handling missing person cases.
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