SHC orders digital system to help find missing persons

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the provincial home secretary and police chief to ensure that the record of missing persons and unidentified dead bodies is digitally updated at every police station, and to also ensure its centralised availability at the police headquarters. The direction came during a case of an allegedly enforced disappearance.

An SHC division bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon said petitioners have claimed in a number of cases that the missing persons have been picked up by police or other law enforcement agencies (LEAs), while joint investigation teams have claimed the missing persons have gone away on their own.

The court said that one would normally not report anyone as missing or complain against officials of the police department or other law enforcement agencies unless there is substance or belief, adding that in any event, it is the domain of police to investigate or inquire into any such complaint.

The bench said that there are also a series of cases in which unidentified dead bodies have been found at different places, adding that Rule 22.79 of the Police Rules, 1934, relating to the issue of missing persons, unidentified bodies and other such matters, was addressed in the Abdul Ghani case.

The court directed the home secretary and the police chief to ensure compliance with the earlier judgment by digitally updating the record of missing persons and unidentified dead bodies at every police station, and also centralising it at the police headquarters for police officials and citizens to easily verify those who have been missing for years.

The bench said that a case has been registered at the Shah Latif Town police station with regard to the enforced disappearance of a missing person, and an investigation is under way.

The court directed the investigating officer to submit a report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Court to the judicial magistrate concerned in view of the Nasrullah case.

The bench said the judicial magistrate would supervise the investigation and ensure the recovery of the abductee or missing person, with the judicial magistrate listing the case on a fortnightly basis.