Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{202036,
        author = {Satakshi Gangwar and Dr. Meenu Sharma},
        title = {from 24 to 12 Hours: A constitutional reform in missing person procedure},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {12},
        pages = {5578-5592},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=202036},
        abstract = {The dissertation, “From 24 to 12 Hours: Constitutional Reform in Missing Person Procedure researches the pressing need for India's missing person procedural reforms. Earlier, informally, the police waited for 24 hours before registering a complaint. This deferral raises serious and significant constitutional concerns relating to the safeguards of life, liberty, and security of a person, as provided in Article 21.
This study reviews existing legislation and procedure and tries to determine the extent of existing procedural manual(s) of the police and the constitutionally guaranteed Rights. This study proposes that numerous judicial interpretations, the analysis of the Supreme Court in the context of ‘Zero FIRs’, and even the interpretation of other jurisdictions, all support the justification to consider the FIR registration timeframe to be a maximum of 12 hours.
Some of the important elements of the proposed reform are:
•	A tiered response system provides an ordered list of response priorities to guarantee that at risk populations receive immediate assistance.
•	Legislative Amendments: A fraudulent proposal requires that police manuals be changed to say that instead of a 24 hour wait, people must register in 12 hours.
•	Constitutional Alignment: Strengthening the link between procedural efficiency and the state's obligation to safeguard fundamental rights.
It is clear from this dissertation that for missing person cases the amended response timeframe of 12 hours is the only way of 'constitutionalising' the procedural vacuum, and the need for an amendment in this regard is justified.},
        keywords = {},
        month = {May},
        }