The Punjab & Haryana High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of a newspaper report published on 31.05.2026, which highlighted that nine girls had gone missing within a span of 48 hours in Ludhiana.

Treating the report as a matter of serious concern, the Court directed the State of Punjab to file an affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner concerned, addressing the allegations contained in the news report as well as the steps taken by the administration in response.

Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor said, “In the facts of the case, we call upon the State of Punjab to file an affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner concerned, with regard to the allegations contained in the newspaper report and the steps taken in this regard, within a period of ten days from today.”

The Court granted ten days from the date of the order for the affidavit to be filed.

The matter has been adjourned to July 23 for further consideration.

Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION V/S STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS.

Click here to read order