IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R. KANTHA RAO WRIT PETITION NO : 16304 of 2008 Between: Rajpal Singh (Petitioner), S/o. Devi Singh, CT No. 5763, Central Prison Cherlapalli 501301, Ranga Reddy District, A.P. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Station House Officer, Musheerabad, Secunderabad. 2 The Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. 3 The District Collector, Hyderabad at Hyderabad District. 4 The Director General of Police, Government of A.P., Hyderabad. 5 The Govt. of A.P., rep. by its Prl. Secretary, Home Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to For the reasons stated in the "Letter" dated 12-07-2008 sent by the Petitioner herein, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue an Order, direction, or a Writ, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus to call for the records and remarks from the Respondents herein in and connected to (i) missing of Petitioner's four (4) minor children since 21-05-2008 from the house of the Petitioner's mother i.e. H.No. 1-5-399, Mehthar Basti (Scavenger's Basti), Musheerabad, Secunderabad and; (ii) action of the police of Musheerabad on the complaint lodged by the Petitioner through prison and this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass appropriate orders directing the Respondents to probe into the matter and trace out the Petitioner's 4 minor children and handover them to the Petitioner and to pass such other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner:LETTER Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR HOME The Court made the following : HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A. GOPAL REDDY AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. KANTHA RAO WRIT PETITION NO.16304 OF 2008 ORDER: (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice A. Gopal Reddy) This is a taken up writ petition basing upon the letter addressed by the petitioner, dated 12.7.2008 to the Hon’ble Chief Justice complaining that his four minor children who were staying with his mother Smt. T. Laxmi Bai at H.No.1-5-399, Mehthar Basti (Scavenger’s Basti), Musheerabad, Secunderabad are missing from 21.5.2008 and in that regard, though a complaint was lodged before the Station House Officer, Musheerabad Police Station, their whereabouts are not yet traced out and therefore, sought a direction to the respondents to probe into the matter and trace out the missing children and handover them to the petitioner. The petitioner and his wife, both of them are lodged in Central Prison, Cherlapalli. In response to the notice, the Inspector of Police, Musheerabad Police Station filed an affidavit sworn on 7.8.2008 and an additional affidavit sworn on 15.10.2008. Today, another additional affidavit has been filed, which reveals that on the complaint lodged by Smt. T. Laxmi Bai, the mother of the petitioner herein, police registered a case in Crime No.157 of 2008 under the head of Boys and Girls missing on 31.5.2008 and investigation was taken up by the Sub-Inspector of Police. During the course of investigation, the suspected persons were brought to the police station and their complicity has been verified, but they were found to be not responsible for the missing of the children. Later, Smt. Manisha, grand daughter-in-law of Smt. T.Laxmi Bai, who was suspected by the complainant, was also brought to the police Station and she was also interrogated but no clues are forthcoming about the missing children. The counter affidavit also discloses that relentless efforts have been made out to trace out the missing children since the date of registration of the crime and a Special Team formed in this case, checked Lodi Alphonsus Home at Fatima Nagar, Kazipet and other orphanage homes and social welfare hostels, but as of now, their whereabouts are not known. The photographs of the missing children were also exhibited at prominent public places. In view of the relentless efforts being carried on by the police in tracing out the missing children, we direct the respondents to continue the efforts and on tracing out the minor children, they should be handed over to their grand-mother i.e. the mother of the petitioner after due intimation to the petitioner. This exercise should be completed within a period of three months from today and as soon as the children are traced out, necessary report has to be filed before the Registry of this Court. The Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. No order as to costs. _________________ (A. GOPAL REDDY, J.) __________________ (R. KANTHA RAO, J.) NOVEMBER 19, 2008 Note: Registry is directed to mark A copy of this order to the petitioner through the Jailer, Central Prison, Cherlapalli. (B/o.) TSR Copy To: 1 The Station House Officer, Musheerabad, Secunderabad. 2 The Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. 3 The District Collector, Hyderabad at Hyderabad District. 4 The Director General of Police, Government of A.P., Hyderabad. 5 The Prl. Secretary, Home Department, Govt. of A.P., Secretariat, Hyderabad. 6. The Advocate General, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT) 7. Two C.D. copies