Jharkhand High Court Calls for SOP on Aadhaar Use in Tracing Missing Children

Ranchi – The Jharkhand High Court, while hearing a habeas corpus petition regarding a minor girl missing from Gumla district since 2018, has directed both the state and Central governments to examine the need for a clear Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for using Aadhaar-related data to locate missing children.

The petition was filed by the girl’s mother, who sought the court’s intervention for her daughter’s recovery.

During Thursday’s hearing, a division bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice A.K. Rai asked the state government and police officials to submit a detailed progress report on the investigation.

The state government informed the court that an FIR had already been registered based on the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother and that the investigation is ongoing.

Following earlier court directions, the Gumla Deputy Superintendent of Police and the officer in charge of the Anti-Human Trafficking Police Station appeared before the bench and provided updates on the steps taken so far.

The court was informed that, considering the seriousness of the case, a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The SIT has travelled to Delhi to gather possible leads. Authorities have also circulated the missing girl’s photograph widely and uploaded it on multiple platforms to aid identification. However, no major breakthrough has been achieved so far, and search efforts are continuing.

Emphasising the importance of technology in such cases, the court observed that investigating agencies should have proper guidelines for the lawful use of Aadhaar-linked data while ensuring privacy safeguards.

The bench stressed that cases related to missing children must be handled with utmost seriousness and highlighted the need for a strong and well-defined policy framework to support investigations.

The High Court has directed authorities to submit a comprehensive report on further progress in the case. The next hearing date will be announced later.

With inputs from IANS