P&H High Court Closes Suo Moto Case On Missing Girls From Ludhiana After Status Report Shows 8 Of 10 Girls Traced

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has disposed of a suo moto PIL concerning the disappearance of girls in Ludhiana within a span of 48 hours, after the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, filed a status report indicating that eight of the missing girls had already been traced and handed over to their families, with efforts continuing to trace the remaining two.

Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor said, "The Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, has filed a status report, as per which, eight out of in fact 10 girls, have already been traced and their custody have been handed over to their family. About two girls, efforts are being made to trace them out. The Officers of the Police Department are also present, who state that all efforts would be made to ensure that the two remaining girls are also traced."

In view of the assurance extended to the Court that all attempts would be taken to trace out the remaining two girls, we do not deem it necessary to keep this matter pending any further, the Court added.

The Court had taken suo motu cognizance of a newspaper report published on 31.05.2026, which stated that nine girls had gone missing within 48 hours in Ludhiana.

Treating the report as a matter of serious concern, the Court had called upon the  Punjab Government to file an affidavit of the concerned Deputy Commissioner addressing the allegations in the news report and the steps taken by the administration, within ten days. 

Title: Court On Its Own Motion v. State of Punjab and others