No trace of soldier missing after 1965 war, High Court told

For Vidyadhar Patri, son of Indian soldier Anand Patri who is suspected to be in a Pakistan jail for the last 44 years, the government's latest report before the Delhi High Court has shattered all hopes of his father's return.

A report submitted by the government to a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S.Muralidhar, said no person with the name Anand Patri was found to be lodged in a Pakistani jail.

"We have no record of Anand Patri after 1965. Though he took part in 1962 Indo-China conflict and also in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, but after this, he has not been traced and his name has not been found even amongst the prisoners of war of 1965," said the status report, submitted Wednesday.

However, a right to information (RTI) query to the external affairs ministry in 2007 revealed that the Indian High Commission in Pakistan had been informed that an Indian national named Naseem Gopal was lodged in a Pakistani jail. He was found to be mentally unsound, so no further details could be be furnished.

Patri had seen a faded photograph of his father in an Oriya daily Feb 7, 2003 - 38 years after he went missing. The photograph, published by the Orissa government, identified him as Naseem Gopal, an inmate in a Pakistani jail for almost 40 years. The man had lost his memory and was of unsound mind, the advertisement said.

Patri, a native of Sarpur Sashan village in Orissa's Balasore district in Orissa, approached the state home secretary and said that the man in the picture was his father. He also wrote to the High Commissioner in Islamabad and then Pakistani Minister of Human Rights, Ansar Burney.

Seeing the two contradictory statements by the government, the bench expressed its unhappiness and said: "This is pathetic. A person has lost his memory and become unsound of mind after languishing in jail for the last 44 years since 1965 and your (government) one department is stating he is in Pakistan and other denies it. You have to take a stand."

The court asked the government to file a status report by Dec 16.

The order came on a public interest litigation filed by human rights activist Madangopal Khushiram Paul and lawyer Kishor Paul on behalf of Patri.

Last updated on Nov 13^th, 2009 at 14:16 pm IST--IANS