The Allahabad High Court has directed police to trace advocate Jai Shankar Upadhyay, who has been missing for three years. Despite an FIR registered in 2022, the division bench noted he remains untraceable and granted police one month.
The Allahabad High Court granted the police a month to locate High Court lawyer Jai Shankar Upadhyay, who has been missing for three years.
A division bench consisting of Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Zafeer Ahmed issued this order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Abhaykant Upadhyay, the missing lawyer’s brother.
The bench remarked that despite a case being registered in 2022, the lawyer remains untraceable.
The court observed,
“It has been three years but the corpus has not yet been traced,”
The case is scheduled for further hearing on October 27, with instructions for the Additional Government Advocate to provide a progress report on the investigation.
The court also mandated the presence of the DCP (crime), ADCP (crime), and ACP (crime) of Prayagraj, who oversee the investigation team, at the next hearing.
Additional Advocate General M.C. Chaturvedi, along with AGAs Paritosh Malviya and Rishi Chaddha, informed the court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the ACP (crime) is investigating the matter.
They noted that suspects are being questioned, but a request for a narco test was denied by the magistrate.
Petitioner Abhaykant Upadhyay accused the police of harassing him under the guise of the investigation. The court clarified that police are allowed to investigate and question anyone they deem necessary, but it strictly prohibited the use of “third-degree methods”.
Lawyer Jai Shankar Upadhyay, who resides in Ponghat Ka Pul under Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj, went missing on September 3, 2022.
Initially reported as missing, the case was later converted into a kidnapping case (Crime No. 360/2022) under Section 365 IPC (kidnapping).
The investigation is still ongoing.
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