New Delhi, February 18 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the creation of a dedicated cell in each police station in the city for cases of missing persons, stating that policing should be left to the police authorities.
The petition also sought the registration of FIRs in all missing person cases, a thorough investigation by the CBI in such cases, as well as the creation of a body headed by a retired high court judge to oversee a "Joint Task Force" to examine the "alarming rise in the number of missing people in Delhi".
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the PIL by the Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust sought "comprehensive" relief and was devoid of any specific instances where the police had refused to register an FIR.
Referring to media reports, the petitioner's counsel said that the "alarming rise" in the number of missing person cases was a matter of public concern.
"Policing should be left to the police. Where is the data on how many cases did not receive an FIR? You cannot simply file a petition after reading a newspaper in the morning. Just because you feel something should be dealt with in a particular manner, can you seek a mandamus?" the bench said.
"It is not for the court to direct the police on how its organization should function. The task of creating a specific cell in each police station in Delhi for missing persons is a task that should be entrusted to the police authorities, as it relates to their functioning," the bench said as it dismissed the petition.
The counsel for the authorities said that the petitioner's claim of an "alarming rise" in missing person cases was not accurate.
The court also issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government, and the Delhi Police on another PIL seeking directions to the police to provide information on the status of all untraced persons.
The PIL by Jayeeta Deb Sarkar also sought directions for the authorities to formulate and implement a comprehensive protective mechanism and institutional safeguards to prevent the "alarming rise in disappearances".
The court also sought directions to trace and file a status report on the approximately 53,000 "untraced" persons over the last decade.
"The petition should be responded to within four weeks," the bench said, and listed the matter for hearing in April.
Sarkar's petition asserted that the right to be traced and the right to investigation in cases of missing persons are intrinsic aspects of the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, as they protect the dignity of victims who are often trafficked into forced labour, sexual exploitation, or organ trade.
"The NCT of Delhi has become a 'transit hub' and 'destination' for the inexplicable disappearance of its residents. Official data reveals a distressing pattern, while the State claims recovery rates are improving, the absolute number of untraced individuals remains staggeringly high.
"In the first 15 days of January 2026 alone, 807 people went missing in Delhi; an average of 54 disappearances per day. More chilling is the demographic skew; nearly two-thirds of these were women and girls, exposing a gendered predation that the State machinery has failed to curb," the petition alleged.