Disposed¶15

Shri Sunil Rai v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors.

Delhi HC16 May 2025W.P.(CRL)/1115/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

habeas corpus; writ petition criminal; missing daughter; trace and produce; police inaction; FIR No. 635/2024; Section 137(2) Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023; Police Station Punjabi Bagh; FIR quashing petition W.P.(CRL) 1203/2025; date of birth dispute; school records; minor versus major; marriage at temple; Sachin; Hardoi Uttar Pradesh; Nari Niketan; protective custody; safety of woman; unwilling to return to parents; Delhi High Court; Sunil Rai; 16 May 2025.

What did the court decide?

Petitioner's daughter to remain at Nari Niketan, where she is presently lodged, with the Nari Niketan directed to ensure her safety; writ petition disposed of with no further orders. ¶15

Shri Sunil Rai Vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors. — Delhi HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner's daughter to remain at Nari Niketan, where she is presently lodged, with the Nari Niketan directed to ensure her safety; writ petition disposed of with no further orders.

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Issue for consideration

Trace and production of the petitioner's daughter reported missing since 23.11.2024 (habeas corpus), including alleged police inaction and her subsequent custody/welfare arrangement. +1 more

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Court's answer

The habeas corpus petition became infructuous because the only concern of the Court was production of the girl and she was produced before the Court.

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Ratio / Principle

In view of the facts and the daughter's stated desire not to return to her parents' house, the Court directed that she be sent to Nari Niketan, where she is at present lodged.

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Key takeaways

The Court made no observation on the girl's age, expressly leaving the date-of-birth issue to be decided in CRL. 1203/2025 where it is pending.obiter¶9
The Nari Niketan was directed to ensure the safety of the petitioner's daughter.ratio¶13

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

High Court of Delhi (Subramonium Prasad & Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, JJ.) disposed of a habeas corpus writ petition (W.P.(CRL) 1115/2025, decided 16.05.2025) by a father seeking trace and production of his daughter missing since 23.11.2024, alleging police inaction. FIR No. 635/2024 dated 04.12.2024 under Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 stood registered at Police Station, Punjabi Bagh. The girl was produced before the Court; the Status Report recorded that she had left home on her own accord and married one Sachin at a temple, and she told the Court she did not wish to return to her parents. School records showed her date of birth as 17.12.2008, whereas in her separate FIR-quashing petition (W.P.(CRL) 1203/2025) she claimed a date of birth of 12.12.2006 making her a major; this Court expressly made no observation on her age, leaving that issue to the pending petition. Holding the petition infructuous upon her production, the Court directed that she remain at Nari Niketan, which was directed to ensure her safety, and disposed of the writ petition.

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$~2

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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- W.P.(CRL) 1115/2025

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SHRI SUNIL RAI .....Petitioner

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Through: Mr. Satyanarayan, Adv. versus

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GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Sanjay Lao (Standing Counsel (CRL)) with Mr. Abhinav Kumar Arya, Ms. Priyam Agarwal, Mr. Aryan Sachdeva, Advs. Mr. Sanjeev Sabharwal, Sr. Panel Counsel with Ms. Shweta Singh & Ms. Mansi Sharma, Advs. Mr. Vedansh Anand (Gp). SI Baney Singh.

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CORAM:

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HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR

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The present writ petition has been filed to trace and produce the daughter of the Petitioner who has been missing since 23.11.2024.

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It is the case of the Petitioner that no efforts had been taken by the Police to search his daughter.

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The daughter of the Petitioner is produced before the Court.

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The Status Report reveals that the Petitioner’s daughter has given a statement that she had left her house on her own accord and she got married to one Sachin S/o Chaudhi R/o Village Jawar Ataria, Police Station Sandali, District Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, at a temple.

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This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/07/2025 at 01:04:52

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The school records states that the date of birth of the missing girl is 17.12.2008.

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An FIR No. 635/2024 dated 04.12.2024 has been registered under Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 at Police Station, Punjabi Bagh.

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It is pertinent to mention that the daughter of the Petitioner has filed W.P. (CRL) 1203/2025 for quashing the said FIR on the ground that the date of birth which has been mentioned in the school record as 17.12.2008 is wrong and the correct date of birth is 12.12.2006, making her a major.

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Since this Court is only concerned with the petition for habeas corpus of the girl and the girl having been produced, the present petition has become infructuous.

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Since the issue as to what is the correct date of birth of the girl is pending in CRL. 1203/2025, this Court is not making any observation on the age of the Petitioner’s daughter. 10. We have interacted with the daughter of the Petitioner and also the Petitioner and his wife.

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The daughter of the Petitioner states that she does not want to go back to her parents. She also states that she has married to one Sachin.

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In view of the facts of this case and in view of the desire of the Petitioner’s daughter that she does not want to go back to her parent’s house, this Court is inclined to send the daughter of the Petitioner to Nari Niketan where she is, at present, lodged.

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