Orissa High Court Rejects Plea for Habeas Corpus in Missing Girl Case

The Orissa High Court has recently turned down a man’s plea to trace her daughter who went missing about a year ago from the Bidanasi area of Cuttack.

Nimananda Biswal approached the high court, alleging that although a case was lodged in October last year, but the police didn’t take any efficacious step to trace his missing daughter.

Hearing the matter, a division bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice SS Mishra termed it a “missing person” case and observed that no material was produced before the court that the petitioner’s daughter had been illegally detained by anyone.

It stated, “Writ of habeas corpus can’t be issued in a casual and routine manner. Though it is a writ of right, it is not a writ of course.”

The court stated last week, disposing of the petition, “Illegal confinement is a precondition to issuing a writ of habeas corpus. It cannot be issued in respect of any and every missing person, more so, when no named person is alleged to be responsible for the illegal detention.”

The bench suggested Biswal to pursue other effective remedies to trace his missing daughter.