AP High Court: Police cannot keep a 'suspect sheet' on a person facing a single case without showing habitual offending

Summary

A man who had been named in one criminal case asked the High Court to close a suspect sheet the Visakhapatnam police opened against him in 2019. The police said the sheet was meant to curb his alleged unlawful activity near the Steel Plant. The High Court held that this general claim was not enough, because nothing showed he fell within the categories in the Police Standing Orders or was a habitual offender.

What the court held

The Court allowed the writ petition and set aside Suspect Sheet No. 2/2019, holding that the opening and continuation of the sheet was an arbitrary exercise of police power. It relied on earlier High Court decisions that a single case does not make someone a habitual offender, and that such sheets cannot be opened casually or mechanically. The Court expressed no opinion on the merits of the pending criminal case, and made no order as to costs.

Provisions referred to

Article 226 of the Constitution of India

Standing Order 600(1), A.P. Police Manual

Official source: High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The PDF above is a copy from an open dataset of the court's public records.

This summary is prepared for general assistance only. It may contain errors and is not legal advice — rely on the full judgment.

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