Patna High Court - Orders
Sanjeev Kumar Tiwary vs The State Of Bihar Through The Addl. ... on 5 February, 2024
Author: P. B. Bajanthri
Bench: P. B. Bajanthri
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1671 of 2023
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-5 Year-2023 Thana- KALYANPUR District- Samastipur
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SANJEEV KUMAR TIWARY
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
THE STATE OF BIHAR THROUGH THE ADDL. CHIEF SECRETARY,
HOME DEPTT, BIHAR
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Rohit Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr.P.K. Shahi (A.G)
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P. B. BAJANTHRI
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESH CHAND
MALVIYA
ORAL ORDER
(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P. B. BAJANTHRI)
6 05-02-2024Prima facie, we find there is no proper investigation conducted by the Investigating Officer. Therefore, Superintendent of Police, Samastipur is hereby requested to nominate good and efficient Police Officer as Investigating Officer. Thereafter, time limit should be stipulated to the newly appointed Investigating Officer to undertake further investigation in the matter and apprise this Court before the next date of hearing.
2. Relist this matter on 04.03.2024.
3. The Investigating Officer was required to apply his/her mind with different techniques in respect of interrogation. In order to elicit truth, such mechanism has not Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 2/8 been followed by the present Investigating Officer. This court has come across 'STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR CASES OF MISSING CHILDREN' which was notified on 23.11.2016. This procedure has not been followed by the Police department officials in respect of missing persons in the State of Bihar. In fact, Annexure - 1 to the aforementioned procedure is relating to 'PROCESS TO BE FOLLOWED UPON RECEIPT OF MISSING CHILD COMPLAINT' are as under:-
Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 3/8
4. Guidelines for the investigation of kidnapping/missing/abduction cases in Delhi has been framed.
Similar guidelines are not forthcoming in the State of Bihar.
Further, advisories issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 10.05.2013 pursuant to the Hon'ble Supreme Court decision in the case of Bachpan Bachao Andolan vs. Union of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 75 of 2012, the following directions have been issued:-
"1. If a police station receives a complaint about any missing children, the complaint should be reduced to a First Information Report, and appropriate procedures should be taken to ensure that a follow-up investigation is conducted as soon as possible.
2. There shall be an initial presumption of either abduction or trafficking in the instance of any missing kid reported until the inquiry proves otherwise.
3. When a police officer receives a report about a missing child, he or she must investigate it under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Continue with the investigation into the complaint even in the case of complaints made otherwise concerning a child that may fall within the scope of Section 155 CrPC, after making an entry in the book to be kept for Section 155 CrPC and after referring the information to the Magistrate concerned.
4. Upon receipt of the information recorded under Section 155 CrPC, the Magistrate shall continue to take appropriate action under sub-section(2)in the meantime, particularly if the complaint concerns a child, particularly a girl child. Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 4/8
5. According to Section 63 of the Juvenile Act, each police station should have at least one officer who is professionally trained and recognised as a Juvenile Welfare Officer. In shifts, the Special Juvenile Officer on duty at the police station should be present.
6. Paralegal volunteers, who have been recruited by the Legal Services Authorities, should be used such that at least one paralegal volunteer is present at the police station at all times to monitor how complaints about missing children and other crimes against children are handled.
7. The State Legal Services Authorities should also establish a network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) whose services might be used at all levels for the aim of locating and reuniting missing children with their families, which should be the primary goal when a missing child is found.
8. Every found/recovered child must be photographed by the police as soon as possible for advertising purposes and to notify the child's relatives/guardians that the child has been found/recovered.
9. Photographs of the discovered child should be made available on the website, in newspapers, and even on television so that the parents of the missing child may track down their child and reclaim him or her from police custody.
10. When trafficking, child labour, abduction, exploitation, and other issues are revealed during the investigation or after the recovery of the child, when the information suggests the commission of such offences, a Standard Operating Procedure must be established to handle the cases of missing children and to invoke appropriate legal provisions.
11. To monitor the case of a missing youngster, the local police should develop a protocol with the High Courts as well as the State Legal Services Authorities. Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 5/8
12. If a missing child is not found within four months following the filing of the First Information Report, the case may be sent to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in each state, which will conduct a more thorough investigation into the case.
13. The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit will submit quarterly status reports to the Legal Services Authorities to keep them informed.
14. In circumstances where no First Information Reports have been filed and the kid is still missing, an F.I.R. should be filed within a month of the date of this Order's notification, and the investigation can then proceed.
15. Once a child has been found, the police must conduct a further inquiry to see whether there was any involvement of human trafficking in the procedure by which the child went missing, and if such links are discovered throughout the investigation, the police must take necessary action.
16. The state authorities must make arrangements for suitable Shelter Homes for missing children who have been found but have nowhere to go. Such Shelter Homes or After-care Homes will need to be established by the state government in question, and the state government will need to give finances to manage them as well as suitable infrastructure. At the very least, three months should pass before such homes are built. Any private home that is run to shelter children is not eligible to receive a child unless it has been referred by the Child Welfare Committee and meets all of the requirements of the Juvenile Justice Act, including registration."
5. We have also noticed NCRB launches a portal for searching a missing person, it is as under:-
"The National Crime Records Bureau Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 6/8 (NCRB) inaugurated these services, allowing citizens to search for missing persons, check police records of any car, and generate a no-
objection certificate (NOC) for it from a nationwide database.
According to an official announcement, the citizen-centric services have been deployed on the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) platform and can be accessed via an online portal or a link in the existing ' Digital Police Portal'.
"Until now, such services have been supplied through state citizen portals, and this is the first time they have been launched centrally," the statement stated.
"Citizens will now be able to use the two citizen services of 'Missing Person Search' and 'Generate Vehicle NOC' online," NCRB Director Ram Phal Pawar stated.
"Citizens can use the national database of retrieved unidentified found persons or unidentified corpses from their houses to look for missing relatives. This will greatly benefit relatives of missing persons and save them time searching for information, as all such details, including images, are available in CCTNS and will now be accessible to residents via this portal at their leisure" he stated.
Further, he said, "Citizens can enter search criteria in the portal, and the system will search it from the available national database across the country and present the result immediately with a photograph and other details".
The NCRB director explained that the 'Generate Car NOC' service allows citizens to check the status of a vehicle before purchasing it secondhand, determining whether it is suspicious or clean based on police records.
According to the release, Pawar stated, "This search may be done against a national database based on the vehicle's details, and one can create and download the Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 7/8 applicable NOC, which is required by the RTO before the transfer of ownership".
The NCRB, which is part of the Union Home Ministry, has also formed an agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a US-based NGO, to gather information on child pornography, exploitation, and other issues.
The NCMEC, which was created by the US Congress, provides a centralised reporting system via which internet service providers around the world or intermediaries such as Facebook, YouTube, and others can report anyone who spread child pornography photos.
The NCRB's Cyber Tipline monitoring system was also inaugurated by IB Director Arvind Kumar. Cyber Tipline is a centralised reporting mechanism for the online exploitation of children, including human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
"The nexus of crime and technology is more visible today than it has ever been. Cybercrime has become much more complex as a result of digital technology and the internet"
Kumar stated his opinion.
It is thus necessary for law enforcement organisations to be agile, proficient in the use of cutting-edge technology, and employ new approaches to trace, investigate, and combat cybercrime.
He stated that so far, roughly 25,000 Cyber Tipline Reports have been received and shared with states and union territories, with 15 of them being of extremely high priority. According to information provided by states and UTs, 57 FIRs have already been filed, with investigations underway for the remaining cyber tipline reports, he noted."
6. The Director General of Police, Bihar and the concerned Superintendent of Police are hereby directed to Patna High Court CR. WJC No.1671 of 2023(6) dt.05-02-2024 8/8 examine the aforementioned advisories/guidelines of the Delhi Government and proceed to formulate guidelines, if it is not already issued as on this day and the same shall be issued within a period of three months from today and be placed on record in future date. Further follow up action is to be under taken. This Court is requesting DGP-Bihar to conduct refresher course to such of those police officers who are entrusted investigations and appraise them various investigations technique including study of psychology ect., within a period of six months.
7. Personal appearance of the Mr.Rajan Kumar, Police Inspector and Mr.Sanjay Kumar, Sub Inspector stands dispensed until further orders.
8. Copy of this order shall be made available to the Director General of Police, Patna, Bihar for further action in the missing persons case.
(P. B. Bajanthri, J) ( Ramesh Chand Malviya, J) abhishekkr/-
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