Sikkim High Court Issues Directions To Trace Out Missing Children In The State

Case: In Re-Missing Children’s

Coram: Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai

Case No.: WP (PIL) No. 01/2017

Court Observation: The concerned authority/authorities of the State shall trace out the thirteen (13) missing children as expeditiously as possible and positively within a reasonable timeframe.

The concerned authority/authorities of the State shall file quarterly reports with the office of the State Legal Services Authority of Sikkim with regard to the status of investigation regarding the thirteen (13) missing children and the steps being taken in order to trace them out. Apart from this, the quarterly reports shall also give full details of any incident of any child going missing in the days to come for which immediate action shall be initiated by the concerned State authority/authorities in accordance with the law. We make it clear that even if the missing children are traced, that should not be the culmination of the investigation. The process of finding out why they actually went missing shall continue till the concerned authority of the State is clearly able to establish the actual reason thereof.

At any time, in the future, if the learned Amicus Curiae is of the opinion that this Court’s jurisdiction in respect of missing children is required to be invoked again, he is at liberty to do so.

Sikkim High Court Issues Directions To Trace Out Missing Children In The State