India’s Supreme Court orders proceedings against Mau police chiefs over stalled trial
India’s Supreme Court has directed Uttar Pradesh to begin departmental proceedings against police superintendents who served in Mau district from 2023 onward, criticising delays in a 2017 kidnapping case. Only two of 54 prosecution witnesses had testified after charges were framed against six accused in March 2023.
India’s Supreme Court has ordered Uttar Pradesh to initiate departmental proceedings against the Superintendents of Police who served in Mau district from 2023 onward, after criticising delays in a criminal trial. A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan said only two of 54 prosecution witnesses had been examined in a case registered in 2017.
Charges were framed against six accused in March 2023. The case concerns the kidnapping of the petitioner’s 14-year-old son on September 27, 2017. The child and his remains have not been found, according to the court’s order dated September 21, 2026.
The bench said the prosecution had failed to fulfil its responsibility to produce witnesses and had shown no sufficient seriousness in bringing the trial to a conclusion. It said the police and prosecuting agency had allowed more than three years to pass without ensuring that witnesses appeared before the court. The incumbent Mau police superintendent attended the court after an earlier order and submitted an affidavit dated August 29, 2026.
In response to the court’s question about progress since charges were framed, the court was told that only two of the 54 prosecution witnesses had been examined. The court directed that departmental proceedings begin within two weeks against the district’s superintendents who had served from 2023 until the date of the order. It warned that if the charges were issued merely as a formality, it could take action against the authority responsible for issuing them.
The bench ordered Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Secretary to personally affirm an affidavit detailing the action taken. That affidavit must be filed before the next hearing, scheduled for November 16, 2026. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition challenging a May 2025 Allahabad High Court order.
The petitioner had sought transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation or another agency. The High Court disposed of the petition after the state’s counsel said the investigation had ended and a chargesheet had been filed.
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