Kerala HC slams CBI for reluctance to take up missing person case
Kochi: High court on Wednesday rebuked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its unwillingness to take over a missing person case, citing the agency's contention that the disappearance of the young man did not have any 'national importance'.
The bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and M B Snehalatha was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by K J Antony to trace his 20-year-old son, Adam Joe Antony, a Chartered Accountancy student from Palluruthy in Kochi, who went missing on July 28, 2024. According to police, Adam had left home for a morning cycling routine around 3.45am on the said date and never returned. Despite the formation of a special investigation team as per the HC's earlier directive, no breakthrough has been achieved thus far.
Consequently, the court had sought instructions from the CBI.
On Wednesday, CBI's senior counsel informed court that the agency was unable to take over the investigation due to manpower constraints. It was also submitted that the CBI is primarily mandated to investigate cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and that even in the previous week, two murder cases had been assigned to the agency. The counsel further asserted that the current case lacked national significance and CBI could not be expected to handle all murder cases.
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This response drew sharp criticism from the bench. "This is not a murder case. How dare you say that? The court did not seek the CBI's involvement to find a body, but to trace a missing person. There is a lingering suspicion that the young man may have been taken outside the territory of Kerala. Hence, we expected the assistance of a national agency like the CBI. The young man has been missing for nearly a year. We had hortatively hoped that a premier institution like the CBI would support the court in bringing some relief to the petitioner, the father, in tracing his son.
However, our hopes have been denied. We are truly surprised that you have never before indicated such conditions for extending assistance," the court orally said.
The court, however, clarified that it did not propose to entrust the investigation to the CBI in the same manner as it would in cases involving grave offences. Instead, it sought a status report from the state police chief, underscoring that the responsibility to trace the missing person, whether within or outside the state, rests solely with the state police.
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