The Delhi High Court has mandated the city police to form a specialized investigative unit (SIT) tasked with locating and retrieving a boy who disappeared in 2020 at the age of 17. They've been given a two-week deadline to accomplish this mission.

A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur, while dealing with a habeas corpus petition by the boy's parent, directed the police to produce the missing child before a metropolitan magistrate expeditiously.

A habeas corpus petition is a legal plea submitted to the court requesting an order to produce an individual who is either missing or illegally detained.

According to the petitioner, in August 2020, his underage son went with his cousin and six other friends to a canal close to the Haiderpur Treatment Plant in Rohini, but he didn't come back home thereafter.

The petitioner stated that multiple police complaints were lodged with the ACP, DCP, and the Delhi Police Commissioner's offices. Additionally, several complaints were also escalated to higher authorities, including the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, the Prime Minister of India, and the metropolitan magistrate. However, despite these efforts, no resolution or progress was achieved.

The court noted that exhaustive efforts were undertaken following the FIR filed in the case. Consequently, the court concluded the proceedings in the petition, instructing the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to continue probing the matter.

"In light of the aforesaid and since all possible efforts to trace the missing boy have been made and the FIR is pending investigation, we hereby dispose of the present writ petition directing the DCP concerned to set up an SIT to locate, recover and produce the missing child before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate expeditiously, preferably within a period of two weeks," the bench, also comprising Justice Shalinder Kaur, ordered recently.

The High Court has mandated that if there's any delay, the police officials must submit a quarterly status report to the relevant trial court. Additionally, if any new leads or clues emerge during the investigation, they are to be promptly communicated to the petitioner as per the court's order.

As per the court's order, the latest police status report highlighted efforts made, including reaching out to various organizations and offices in the quest to locate the missing child. Unfortunately, despite these extensive efforts, no leads or clues regarding the whereabouts of the child were discovered.