1. This age old habeas corpus petition concerns the disappearance of an young man aged 20 years by name Mushtaq Ahmad Dar S/O Ghulam Mohammad Dar R/O Tengpora, Srinagar on and after 13.04.1997 midnight.

2. As per the averments contained in the petition, the petitioner's son, namely, the detenu, was arrested by the 4th respondent at Boat Colony, Bemina on 13.04.1997 midnight, beaten in the presence of his family members, interrogated in one of the rooms of the house while the other family members were locked in another room, and thereafter he was frisked away by the personnel of the 4th respondent. The petitioner would contend that on the next day morning she approached the 4th respondent when they admitted the custody of the detenu with them and assured that he would be released shortly, and that after repeated approach and on subsequent days the detenu was not released. After passage of time, the petitioner was told that the detenu was not in their custody. In the above stated background the petitioner came forward with this Habeas Corpus Petition, stating that after exhausting her remedies with all other higher authorities including the Ministers, for securing the protection of the body of her son, having failed she approached this Court, which caused some delay in filing the Habeas Corpus Petition. The petitioner, therefore, prayed for a direction to the respondents to produce her son Mushtaq Ahmad Dar before this Court and to set him at liberty. The petitioner also sought for further directions for conducting a judicial enquiry and also payment of compensation of Rs.10 lacs. Petitioner also seek for a direction for prosecuting the officials of the 4th respondent for punishing them for unlawful arrest and disappearance of the detenu.

3. When the Habeas Corpus Petition came up for hearing, after admission and initial notice on 07.09.1999, respondents were directed to file their reply. After perusing the reply an order came to be passed on 02.05.2000 to the effect that since the respondents deny the alleged apprehension of the detenu, an enquiry was necessitated. The Additional Sessions Judge, Srinagar was appointed as Enquiry Officer. The parties were directed to appear before the Enquiry Officer on 20.05.2000. The enquiry was directed to be completed within a period of four months from the date of appearance of the parties. The matter was directed to be listed after the receipt of the report of the Enquiry Officer.

4. The Additional Sessions Judge, who is presently a sitting Judge of this Court, held the enquiry and submitted his report on 18.07.2000. The perusal of the report disclose that on 25.05.2000, none of the parties appeared before him, that the applicant appeared thereafter while the non applicants did not appear. The appli­cant was stated to have produced the witnesses whose statements were recorded by the learned Judge. The learned Judge extracted the substratum of the evidence, both the chief examination as well as the cross examination made by the non-appli­cants 1 & 2, namely, the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the Director General of Police. The learned Judge has also recorded that while the counsel for the non-applicants 1 & 2 caused appearance on certain occasions, the non- applicants always remained absent and that therefore, no evidence was let in on behalf of the non-applicants. The learned Judge ultimately drew the following conclusions in his report.

"Considered the submissions and also sifted the record. What emerges from the same is that son of the petitioner from the year 1997 is missing, whereabouts are not known till date. 20 Grenadiers army according to the witnesses had lifted Mushtaq Ahmad from his house on the intervening night of 13/14th of April, 1997. According to the witness Haji Ab. Rashid Dar, Mushtaq Ahmad was in the custody of 20 Grenediers Army. Accord­ing to him Commandant, S.K. Malik had assured released of said Mushtaq Ahmad Dar. But was not released. Thereafter army camp at Boatman C

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