The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a plea seeking a fresh investigation into the alleged murder of a woman after police confirmed she is alive and living in Canada. The Court held that no further probe was warranted once her identity and safety were verified.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a plea requesting a fresh investigation into the suspected murder of a woman, after police verified that she is alive and currently residing in Canada.
Justice Surya Partap Singh rejected the petition filed by the woman’s maternal uncle. He described the uncle’s allegations claiming the woman was killed by her father as nothing more than a figment of imagination.
The court held that once the woman had been traced safely and is confirmed to be living, there is no legal ground to initiate prosecution or order any further inquiry.
The High Court’s ruling followed a verification exercise undertaken by law enforcement authorities. State officials told the court that investigators checked the woman’s travel record using passport and immigration records, which showed she had moved from India to Canada.
Deputy Advocate General J S Thind informed the court that the woman obtained a passport in her own name to facilitate her travel. Police also arranged a video call during which two of her relatives identified her and confirmed her identity and safety.
The dispute began when the woman’s maternal uncle approached the court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) consisting of senior officers from outside the Ludhiana district.
The petitioner claimed that his niece and sister went missing in January 2013, shortly after the niece was married off by the accused her husband without the maternal family’s knowledge. According to the petition, the sister married the accused in 1978, and the husband later shifted to Germany in 1985, where he allegedly entered into a second marriage without informing his first wife.
The alleged second marriage reportedly caused serious damage to the family relationship. After the mother and daughter disappeared in 2013, a missing person report was initially filed by the petitioner’s father and was later upgraded to a murder case.
Senior Advocate Jasdeep S Gill, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the police failed to conduct a proper investigation for more than 13 years. He claimed that authorities did not discharge their statutory obligations and accepted explanations that were highly unlikely particularly on the basis that the accused father and other relatives were wealthy NRIs. Gill pointed out that for nine years the accused were not arrested and were declared proclaimed offenders.
However, the High Court concluded that there was no proof of intentional neglect or a weak investigative approach. Justice Singh observed that the investigation had exhausted all possible steps to trace the woman. Since her status in Canada was confirmed and she was found to be alive, the court ruled the uncle’s murder claims to be baseless and determined that no further investigation or special task force was necessary.