Abstract
The time period of 24 hours is very critical for the missing person and if searched in this time period then there is a lot of chance for the positive outcome. In light, Delhi High court directed to all the police stations in capital that they don’t need to wait for this particular time period i.e. 24 hours to register the complaint for missing children. The court issued this direction while dealing with a plea by a father whose daughter has been missing from February.
About the order
This order was given by the bench of Justice Prathibha M Singh and Amit Sharma. They explained that police wait for this time period because children sometimes or generally goes to play with their friends and then even go to home of their known and eventually return, but this delay can also give a up-hand to kidnappers in moving the children out of the courts jurisdiction. Therefore, they emphasised that delay should not be done and investigation should start immediately.
According to the court the waiting period was “wholly unnecessary”.
“Thus, in the case of complainants relating to children going missing, irrespective of whether a child is a major or minor, waiting for the 24 hours period could result in crucial time being wasted. Therefore, it is extremely important that immediate investigation and inquiries be conducted by the police/investigating agencies without waiting for 24 hours under the presumption that the person/child may return home”, the court said this in its July 9 order.
The bench added, “There is no scope for any speculation or conjecture that the child may return home in 24 hours and hence the police can wait. In fact, the first 24 hours-period is the crucial period or critical period, when steps for tracing the missing person or child could lead to a positive outcome”.
As discussed above too, the court gave directions while dealing with a habeas corpus plea of Vinod, whose minor daughter had been missing since February. The deceased’s father went to lodge complaint on February 19, 2024 but the police didn’t register his complaint that very day and told him to return the next day if his daughter didn’t return. In its 10-page order, the court said that the initial waiting for 24 hours by the police have caused delay in tracing the girl.
Referring to the Delhi police’s 2009 standing order on the issue, the bench noted that in case of missing children and all missing minor girls irrespective of their age, a case had to be registered “mandatorily even if a suspicion is voiced by the complainant or arises otherwise”. The bench also noted that as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued by the Union Ministry of Child Welfare titled ‘Standard Operating Procedure for Cases of Missing Children’ upon receiving a complaint of a missing child a F.I.R. has to be registered as a trafficking or abduction.
“The above SOPs maki it adequately clear that actions has to be taken immediately, promptly, forthwith and at once. There is no scope for any speculation or conjecture that the child may return home in 24 hours and hence the police can wait,” the bench said.
In response to the severity of the situation the court transferred the investigation to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (crime branch) and instructed them to file a status report within a week.
Conclusion
The wait can result in very negative aspects, this was done for the reason that if the person/child whose family is thinking that they are missing and they reach to police station for filling a missing complaint, but in reality they might have gone to visit an acquaintance, or to a place where they are unable to reach to their families regarding their whereabouts. In such case scenarios they might return in 24 hours.
But this can really be critical and crucial if the person/child really had been kidnapped or are in some kind of danger, that can be life threatening,. Therefore, the initial hours are very important and investigation should be started immediately to yield positive outcomes. There is no need to wait that long, specially when the matter is about a child or a girl regardless of their age, said by the Delhi High Court.