Archive · 21 Aug 2026
Madhya Pradesh High Court Fines Father Over Misused Habeas Plea
Rajesh Sharma told the court that his son was missing.
He said the son had disappeared on March 10, 2025.
Police records later showed that the son had traveled by plane from Gwalior to Ahmedabad with a girl.
The girl had also been reported missing.
Police said the son was not being illegally held.
An FIR was filed against the son and two relatives.
The court said important facts had been left out of the petition.
It dismissed the case and ordered Sharma to pay Rs 5,000.
The Indore bench dismissed Rajesh Sharma’s habeas corpus plea seeking his allegedly missing son.
Police records indicated Sharma’s son had flown from Gwalior to Ahmedabad with a girl who was also reported missing.
Sharma reported his son missing on May 6, nearly two months after the alleged March 10 disappearance.
An FIR was registered against the son, his uncle and aunt at Morar Police Station in Gwalior.
The court called the petition a misuse of its process and ordered Sharma to pay Rs 5,000.
- Who
- Rajesh Sharma, his son, the girl, the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and police officials were involved.
- What
- The Indore bench dismissed a habeas corpus petition and imposed a Rs 5,000 cost on Sharma.
- When
- The son was alleged to have disappeared on March 10, 2025; the missing-person report was filed on May 6, 2025, and the court ordered payment within two weeks.
- Where
- The case was heard by the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court; police records traced the son’s flight from Gwalior to Ahmedabad.
- Why
- The court found that the petition omitted material facts, followed a lengthy delay in reporting the disappearance, and amounted to misuse of the court process.
Court and State’s View
Petitioner’s View
Purpose of the petition
Court and State’s View
The State argued that Sharma filed the petition to create a legal defence for his accused son while suppressing the alleged elopement.
Petitioner’s View
Sharma’s counsel, Abhishek Mantri, said Sharma was simply a father who did not know his son’s actions or whereabouts.
Whether the son was unlawfully detained
Court and State’s View
Police records indicated that the son had flown to Ahmedabad with the girl, rather than being unlawfully detained.
Petitioner’s View
Sharma approached the court seeking recovery of a son he claimed was missing.
Delay and omitted facts
Court and State’s View
The court said the nearly two-month delay in filing the report and omission of material facts weakened the petition and showed misuse of the remedy.
Petitioner’s View
The petitioner’s account described the son as missing, without accepting the State’s characterization of the case as an attempt to build a legal defence.
- Court
- Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court
- Bench
- Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Alok Awasthi
- Petitioner
- Rajesh Sharma
- Penalty
- Rs 5,000, payable to the High Court Employees Union within two weeks
- Reported disappearance
- March 10, 2025
- Missing report
- Filed on May 6, 2025
- Travel route
- Gwalior to Ahmedabad