New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday sought the Centre’s response on a PIL seeking direction to utilise biometric and Aadhaar details of missing persons, including children, aged and mentally challenged, so that they can be re-united with their families. 

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and C. Hari Shankar issued notice to the Union ministry of home affairs on the plea, which also sought direction to the authorities to spread awareness in this regard to track the pre-existed biometric and Aadhaar details for re-uniting missing persons with their families across country.

The bench asked the ministry to file an action taken report on the representation made by petitioner advocate Amit Sahni to the authorities and listed the matter for further hearing on November 13. 

The PIL said the Centre be directed to issue directions to the authorities for utilising biometric and Aadhaar details of missing children, old persons and mentally challenged immediately for the purpose of tracing and re-uniting them with their families. It said the plea was not challenging any question of law, which is already pending adjudication before the SC. 

“There have been many debates regarding Aadhaar and the issue of its constitutional validity,  but the same is useful for tracing missing persons,” it said, referring to the NCRB, 2016 as per which the total missing persons are 5,49,008 and untraced ones are 3,19,627.      

“There is no void than the helplessness felt by parents whose kids have gone missing and the significance of timely recovering of the child can be understood if one empathies with feelings of the kid or that of a mother, who is unable to locate her child irrespective of the circumstances under which he/she goes missing,” it said. 

Mr Sahni referred to an order of a trial court, which reunited a mentally challenged woman, 31, with her family in Rajasthan through Aadhaar details. The Delhi police rescued her and produced her before a metropolitan magistrate, who directed the victim undergo the process of Aadhaar, which revealed her biometric records.       

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