1 week ago
Allahabad High Court Calls for Modern UP History-Sheet Rules
A history sheet is a police record used to keep watch on someone considered a possible criminal.
The Allahabad High Court said the rules for creating these records in Uttar Pradesh are very old.
The court said crimes today can involve computers and stolen bank money.
It also said cameras may work better than constantly following people.
An advocate challenged a history sheet opened against him.
He said several cases were used to pressure him because he was pursuing his brother’s murder case.
The state argued that watching him was necessary because he had faced six criminal cases.
The judges decided that the cases did not show he was a dangerous professional criminal.
They cancelled the history sheet and asked the government to update its rules.
The Allahabad High Court quashed a history sheet opened against an advocate.
The court said Uttar Pradesh police regulations rely on outdated surveillance methods and crime categories.
It suggested modern tools such as CCTV cameras could replace traditional picketing and following.
The advocate said he was framed to pressure him over his brother’s murder case and had been acquitted.
The court found the history sheet approval mechanical and inconsistent with the constitutional right to liberty.
- Who
- The Allahabad High Court, an advocate who challenged the history sheet, and the Uttar Pradesh government and police authorities.
- What
- The court quashed a B-Class history sheet and urged Uttar Pradesh to revise its police regulations governing surveillance.
- Where
- The case involved Prayagraj and was heard by the Allahabad High Court.
- When
- In an order dated August 19; the articles do not specify the year.
- Why
- The court found the surveillance decision mechanical, unsupported by the petitioner’s criminal profile, and inconsistent with the right to liberty.
Petitioner and Court
State Police
Need for surveillance
Petitioner and Court
The petitioner argued that he had been framed and had been acquitted in the cases cited against him. The court said his record did not justify surveillance.
State Police
The state argued that surveillance was necessary because the petitioner had been involved in six criminal cases.
Validity of the history sheet
Petitioner and Court
The court found the approvals mechanical and said lifelong surveillance threatened the constitutional balance of the right to liberty.
State Police
The police defended opening the history sheet as an appropriate measure based on the petitioner’s criminal cases.
Surveillance methods
Petitioner and Court
The court said traditional picketing and following were outdated and that modern technology, including CCTV cameras, could be more effective.
State Police
The existing Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations provided for the traditional surveillance methods, which the state relied upon in the case.
Key facts
- Court
- Allahabad High Court
- Judges
- Justices J J Munir and Tarun Saxena
- Petitioner
- A member of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association and advocate
- Police action
- A B-Class history sheet involving lifelong surveillance was opened against the petitioner
- State’s position
- The state defended surveillance based on six criminal cases
- Court’s conclusion
- The petitioner’s cases did not show that he required surveillance as a professional or expert criminal
- Recommended reform
- Revision and modernization of provisions in the Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations
Quotes
Allahabad High Court bench
The bench of Justices J J Munir and Tarun Saxena hearing the petitioner’s challenge.
“The petitioner otherwise is a respectable man, who is a member of the Bar of this Court and professionally active. He is also prominent as an office-bearer of the Bar. In this perspective, it really defies logic why he should be subjected to surveillance as a historysheeter.”
indianexpress.com
“There could be far more desperate cyber criminals, who need a 24 hours surveillance, but what the UP Police Regulations envisage, might be absolutely irrelevant and unsuited to track down desperadoes of the modern kind.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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