The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the city government to file a status report on the issue of formulation of a standard operating procedure (SoP) for DNA testing to carry out the identification of bodies. The court's order was passed while dealing with a petition filed in March 2020 by a man who sought directions from the authorities to expeditiously conclude the process of DNA matching to find out if one of the recovered bodies was that of his brother who went missing amidst the violence in North-East Delhi.
“Examine it and come back,” the court told the counsel for the Delhi government. The court also permitted the counsel for the petitioner to give his suggestions which may be considered by the Delhi government if the SOP is yet to be framed. The counsel for petitioner said that after a direction was passed for urgent DNA testing in the present case, it was found that the body in question was that of the petitioner's brother.
The petitioner had earlier told the court that his brother went missing from home on February 25, 2020 and in the backdrop of the riots, violence and arson that was ongoing at that time in the North-East part of Delhi, he feared that his brother might have met an unfortunate end. Subsequently, it was learnt that a body was found in the area and the blood of the petitioner's father was collected at GTB Hospital with the purpose of conducting DNA matching but no expeditious action was taken after that.
While directing that the DNA matching of the body be undertaken on an urgent basis, the high court had, on March 19, 2020, said there should be a SOP so that such essential matters are dealt with in a timely and even-handed manner, without leaving the affected parties to the discretion, whims and fancies of the authorities. The matter would be heard next on May 12.
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