Orissa HC refuses habeas corpus plea of man whose daughter went missing a year back

Stating that ‘illegal confinement’ is a precondition for a writ of habeas corpus, the Orissa High Court turned down a man’s plea to trace her daughter who went missing about a year ago from the Bidanasi area of Cuttack.

Nimananda Biswal had approached the high court, alleging that although a case was lodged in October last year, the police did not take any efficacious step to trace his missing daughter.

Hearing the matter, a division bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice SS Mishra termed it a ”missing person” case and observed that no material was produced before the court that the petitioner’s daughter had been illegally detained by anyone.

”Writ of habeas corpus cannot be issued in a casual and routine manner. Though it is a writ of right, it is not a writ of course,” it said.

”Illegal confinement is a precondition to issuing a writ of habeas corpus. It cannot be issued in respect of any and every missing person, more so, when no named person is alleged to be responsible for the illegal detention,” the court said last week, disposing of the petition.

The bench suggested Biswal pursue other effective remedies to trace his missing daughter.