JUDGMENT

S.P. Bharucha, J.-The appellants are the mothers of Thokchom Lokendra Singh and Kangujam Loken Singh respectively. The said boys, each about 20 years old, along with a third, Kangujam Iboyaima Singh, were picked up by the Army in Imphal on September 23, 1980. On September 26, 1980, Kangujam Iboyaima Singh was released, but the said boys were not. On April 9, 1981, the appellants filed habeas corpus writ petitions before the Gauhati High Court. The writ petitions were dismissed by a learned Single Judge on the strength of the averment of the respondents that the said boys had left their custody. Appeals were filed before a Division Bench of the High Court, which also, ultimately, came to be dismissed in view of the respondents statement.

2. Special leave to appeal against the orders of the Division Bench was granted. The respondents reiterated in this Court the stand that the said boys had been released after interrogation, but without having been first handed over to the police. On April 24, 1990, this Court directed the District Judge, Imphal (West), to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances relating to the disappearance of the said boys. The District Judge was directed