Ranchi – The Jharkhand High Court, while hearing a habeas corpus petition related to a minor girl missing from Gumla district since 2018, has asked the state and Central governments to consider formulating a clear Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the use of Aadhaar-linked data to help identify and trace missing children.
The petition was filed by the missing girl’s mother, seeking directions for her daughter’s recovery.
During the hearing on Thursday, a division bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice A.K. Rai directed the state government and police authorities to submit a detailed status report on the progress of the investigation.
The state government informed the court that an FIR had been registered based on the mother’s complaint and that the investigation is currently underway.
In compliance with the court’s earlier order, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Gumla and the officer in charge of the Anti-Human Trafficking Police Station appeared before the bench and presented details of the steps taken so far.
The court was informed that, considering the seriousness of the case, a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The SIT has travelled to Delhi to gather leads regarding possible locations of the missing girl. Authorities have also circulated her photograph widely and uploaded it on multiple platforms to assist in identification. However, no major breakthrough has been achieved yet, and search efforts are continuing.
Highlighting the importance of technological support in such cases, the bench observed that investigating agencies should have clear legal guidelines for using Aadhaar-linked data in missing child cases, while ensuring that privacy protections are not compromised.
The court stressed that cases involving missing children must be handled with utmost seriousness and emphasised the need for a strong and well-defined policy framework to support investigations.
In earlier hearings, the bench had also expressed concern over child trafficking and the functioning of law enforcement agencies in the state.
In its latest order, the High Court directed authorities to submit a comprehensive and satisfactory report outlining further progress in the investigation.
With inputs from IANS