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The Allahabad HC held on the 24th of January that “No intervention with the right of privacy of an Indian citizen can be permitted so mechanically” while ordering the removal of surveillance on a man who was kept under police watch since 2011.
A 23 year old electrical mechanic, Bablu shah was kept under watch after the station house officer of Moradabad made a request to the competent authority for permission to keep shah under surveillance by opening his history sheet of ‘A’ category. The police alleged that he committed various crimes along with one Manoj Bhatnagar in the year 2011 under the section 411 and 392 of IPC.
The petitioner in the present case argued that he had already been acquitted for all the crimes committed in the year 2011. So, since he is no longer committing such crimes, his history sheet shouldn’t further be relied upon to keep him under surveillance. The additional government advocate, on the other hand, pointed out that merely because he has been acquitted doesn’t mean that he has stopped criminal activities.
The bench of Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ashok Kumar observed that asper the chapter XX of the UP police regulations, the period of surveillance is not determined by the history sheet but the time for which the person is criminally active. The court further stated that the power of surveillance can only be exercised in extraordinary cases and no history sheet can be opened if the conditions under regulation 228 of chapter XX are met.
The Court said that the decision of the SHO to extend the history sheet is not based on ‘application of mind’ or provision of adequate reasons. The officer merely wants to extend the history sheet.
The Bench held that no persons’ privacy can be allowed to be encroached upon so mechanically. In this case, the SHO himself stated that the accused is leading his live peacefully. So, the Court allowed the writ petition and banned the continuance of history sheet of the petitioner.
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