$~4(SDB)

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 18^th March, 2025 + W.P.(CRL) 1563/2024 SHABANA . ..... Petitioner Through: Ms. Fozia Rahman, Adv (DHCLSC)

alongwith Mr. Sikander A. Siddiqui, Ms. Rashmi Pandey & Ms. Aafreen Advs. versus GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Amit Tiwari, CGSC with Mr. Tarveen Singh Nanda, Adv. with ACP Jitender Singh, MHA with Inspector Sunil Kumar, PS Special Cell/IFSO and Inspector Ina Kumari, PS AHTU/Crime.

Mr. Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Crl.) with Ms. Priyam Aggarwal, Adv.

Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Vivek Reddy, Ms Aparajita Jamwal, Ms. Swati Agarwal, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Ms. Shivika Mattoo & Ms. Anandita Tayal, Advs. for WhatsApp LLC. (M: 84488 91811)

Mr. Akhil Sibal, Sr. Adv. along with briefing counsel.

Mr. Arvind Datar, Sr. Adv., Mr. Varun Pathak, Ms. Amee Rana, Mr. Dhruv Bhatnagar and Ms. Prasidhi Agrawal, Advs for Meta Platforms Inc.

Mr. Abhishek K. Singh, Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Ms. Rose Maria S. and Mr. Saksham Chaturvedi, Advs. for LinkedIn Coporation.

Mr. Neel Mason, Ms Ekta Sharma, W.P.(CRL) 1563/2024 Page 1 of 26 Signature Not Verified Ms. Pragya Jain & Ms Surabhi Katare, Advs. for Google LLC.

Ms. Anushka Sharda & Mr. Siddhant Grover, Advs. for Telegram.

Ms. Shweta Sahu & Ms. Sreeja Sengupta, Adv. for Reddit, Inc. (M:

9830776856)

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE AMIT SHARMA Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was filed seeking issuance of a writ in the nature of habeas corpus for production of the Petitioner’s missing son.

Background:

3. The matter has been considered on several dates wherein the Court has been apprised of the steps taken by the concerned investigative agency for tracing the missing boy. Accordingly, on 19th September, 2024 the Court was informed that one of the leads found by the concerned Investigating Officer was that the missing boy had recently used his Instagram account. Considering the nature of the matter, the Court issued notice to Meta Platforms (hereinafter “Meta”) and directed as under:

“3. As per the said status report the investigation is currently going on and some leads have been received. Further, it is stated that one such lead received by the concerned IO is that on 6th September, 2024 the missing boy was using an Instagram account under the user ID W.P.(CRL) 1563/2024 Page 2 of 26 Signature Not Verified - shabanashabana8032.

4. A notice under Section 91 of Cr.P.C. is stated to have been given to Instagram, Meta Platforms Inc., to provide the details of the aforementioned account including, the phone number, location/IP address, and the IMEI number of the device used for operating the said account. However, no reply is stated to have been received from Meta Platforms Inc./Instagram as per the concerned IO.”

4. Pursuant to the above order, ld. Counsel for Meta had entered appearance on the next date of hearing i.e., 20th September, 2024. Ld. Counsel had submitted that the information, as requested by the investigating authorities, had been duly provided by Meta through the platform usually accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies (hereinafter “LEAs”) for obtaining information. After hearing parties, this Court was of the view that in several such cases involving missing persons, there appears to be a lag in receiving information from the concerned social media platforms and other IT intermediaries (hereinafter collectively “Intermediaries”) during which precious time is lost in tracing the missing person. In order to ensure that there is no delay or lag in receiving information, as and when required by the LEAs, from Intermediaries some steps were required to be taken. Accordingly, the Court on 20th September, 2024 issued notices to various Intermediaries and directed as under:

“3. Mr. Tejas Karia, the ld. Counsel for M/s Meta India Services