Orissa HC Rejects Mother’s Habeas Corpus Plea To Trace ‘Missing’ Daughter

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has turned down a mother’s habeas corpus petition to trace her daughter, who has been missing since last year.

The two-judge bench of Justices S K Sahoo and S S Mishra said that habeas corpus plea is maintainable only when detention is illegal. “In this case, the petitioner has not established a prima facie case of unlawful detention of her daughter by any particular person, rather it is submitted on his behalf that his daughter has been missing. Therefore, we are of the considered view that a petition seeking the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus cannot be entertained to trace a missing person and for such purpose, the petitioner can pursue other effective remedy,” the order issued on September 8 said.

The bench further said that “it is a writ of right, it is not a writ of course”.

The mother alleged that police had failed to take any efficacious step to trace her daughter although almost a year had lapsed since the FIR was lodged at Bidanasi police station in Cuttack on October 12, 2022.