NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought Action Taken Reports (ATRs) on the issue of individuals who were officially declared dead but are physically alive in different parts of India. The human rights watchdog has requested the ATRs from the Secretary of the Ministries of Home Affairs and Law and Justice, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar, and the Superintendent of Police, Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, in response to the issues raised in the petitions.Acting on three separate petitions filed by noted human rights activist and Supreme Court advocate Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC has asked for the reports to be submitted within 15 days. Tripathy highlighted the growing number of cases where individuals are wrongly declared dead due to inaccurate investigations. He urged the Commission to intervene by recognising the rights of these individuals and restoring their legal status. The errors, he said, often result from clerical mistakes, false information, misidentification, and the failure of authorities to conduct thorough investigations. Tripathy requested proper investigation into such cases, restoration of legal identity, and compensation for the affected victims. In the second case, related to a fabricated murder in Bihar, police officials had declared an individual named Nathuni Pal, a resident of Deoria, Bihar, murdered 17 years ago. He was recently found alive in Jhansi in 2025. The false report led to the wrongful conviction of innocent individuals for murder and caused severe mental trauma to Pal’s family. In response, the NHRC directed the DGP of Bihar to examine the matter and submit a report within 15 days.In the third case, the NHRC instructed the Superintendent of Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur to investigate and submit a report within 15 days. This case involved a woman, Lalita Bai, aged 35 and a mother of two, who had been reported murdered 18 months ago. However, she was later found alive. Four individuals accused of her murder were still in jail as of March 2024.According to the petition, Lalita was trafficked by one of the accused, Banchhanda, who sold her to another accused for Rs 5 lakh. She eventually escaped and returned home after 18 months. The role of police officials in this case has also come under scrutiny, as they allegedly implicated the four individuals in a false murder report.In all three cases, the NHRC observed that the allegations raised point to serious violations of the victims’ human rights. It directed the authorities concerned to examine the matters and submit reports within 15 days.
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