High Court of DelhiW.P.(C)/6887/2025

Amit Lau v. Union Of India & ANR.

2025-05-21Hon'Ble Mr. Justice Sachin Datta3 pages

$~91 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 6887/2025, CM APPL.31195/2025, CM APPL.31196/2025 AMIT LAU .....Petitioner Through:

Mr. Shahzeb Ahmed along with Mr. Adeel Ahmad Khan and Mr.

Shashi Kumar, Advocates.

versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

.....Respondents Through:

Mr. Nishant Gautam, CGSC along with Mr. Vardhman K., Mr. Vipul Verma, Advocates.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA % 21.05.2025

O R D E R

The present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking that the respondents be directed to trace the whereabouts of the minor daughters of the petitioner, namely Maya Awesome Lau and Ahana Lau, who are alleged to have been abducted by the wife of the petitioner. 2.

Admittedly, the petitioner, his wife, and their daughters, are all citizens of the United States of America.

The petitioner had earlier filed a writ petition, being W.P.(C) No. 3128/2025, on the same cause of action, seeking the same relief. The same was disposed of vide order dated 27.03.2025 passed by this Court, which reads as under:- "W.P.(C) 3128/2025

3. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking that the respondents be directed to trace the whereabouts of the minor daughters of the petitioner namely Miss Maya Awesome Lau and Miss Ahana Lau, who are citizens of the USA.

4. According to the petitioner, they have been illegally abducted by the The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

wife of the petitioner i.e. Shalini Haranhalli from USA to India without the consent of the petitioner.

5. It is submitted that the petitioner is unaware of the exact whereabouts of his minor daughters. Despite repeated attempts to ascertain the exact location of his children, the petitioner has not been able to establish contact or confirm their current residence and whereabouts.

6. In the circumstances, the petitioner seeks the assistance of the respondents to trace the whereabouts of his minor daughters who are stated to be currently residing in India.

7. Without going into the maintainability of the present petition, with the consent of respective counsel for the parties, the present petition is disposed of with the direction to the respondent nos.1 and 2 to depute a responsible officer to seek to address the concern of the petitioner and to render such assistance, as may be deemed appropriate. Let the same be done expeditiously, and preferably within a period of four weeks from today.

8. It is made clear that the aforesaid directions have been issued in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case.

9. The petition is disposed of in the above terms." 4.

It is submitted that pursuant to the aforesaid directions given by this Court, the petitioner through his counsel has sent a representation to the respondents seeking necessary actions / steps as per the abovementioned order. The petitioner submits that the response sent by the respondents thereto, vide a communication dated 07.04.2025, was ambiguous and not satisfactory.

The abovementioned communication dated 07.04.2025 issued by the respondent no. 1 / Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreigners-I Division, inter alia, states as follows :- "4. From the petition, whereabout of petitioner's wife and his minor daughters appears to be connected to Bengaluru, Karnataka. Therefore, further, necessary action in the matter may need to be taken by the Bureau of Immigration and State Government of Karnataka. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

5. In view of the above, Bureau of Immigration and State Government of Karnataka are requested to take appropriate action in the matter in compliance of Hon'ble High Court of Delhi order dated 27.03.2025. Further, Bureau of Immigration is also authorized to defend the interest of Union of India (MHA) in the above court matter during further development of court case."

The petitioner, being dissatisfied with the aforesaid communication, has filed the present petition seeking that the respondents be directed to take necessary steps to ascertain the whereabouts of his minor daughters. 7.

Considering that the petitioner's wife and the daughters are all citizens of a foreign country, this Court does not consider it appropriate to pass any further orders beyond what has already been directed vide order dated 27.03.2025.

Moreover, it does appear that the respondents have taken some steps in pursuance of the earlier order dated 27.03.2025 passed by this Court. Let the concerned official/officer, who is examining the matter in terms of the order dated 27.03.2025 passed by this Court, take further steps to access the relevant records (including those of the Bureau of Immigration), and make an attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of the petitioner's daughters therefrom. If any information is uncovered from the data / records of the respondents which reveal the whereabouts of the petitioner's daughters, the same may be duly communicated to the petitioner. 9.

No further directions are warranted in the present petition. The same is, accordingly, disposed of in the above terms. The pending applications also stand disposed of.

SACHIN DATTA, J MAY 21, 2025/r, kg The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.