Allahabad High Court: Police Cannot Open History Sheets Without Evidence

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that police cannot arbitrarily open history sheets against individuals merely on the basis of likes or dislikes, stressing that cogent material is required to form reasonable suspicion.

A bench of Justices Siddharth and Santosh Rai quashed the history sheet opened against Mohammad Wajir, who had only one case under the U.P. Cow Slaughter Act from 2016.

The Court noted that such surveillance powers must not be misused to curtail citizens’ freedoms and found no evidence to justify treating the petitioner as a habitual offender.

The writ petition was accordingly allowed.

[Mohammad Wajir v State of U.P.]