Police must not use oral summons to rowdy sheeters: Kn’tka HC
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ruled that the police cannot orally summon rowdy sheeters who are not currently involved in criminal activity or suspected of any offence.
The court said that such individuals can be notified through SMS or WhatsApp when their presence is required for an enquiry, reports PTI.
Justice R Nataraj passed the order on December 4 while hearing a plea filed by Sunil Kumar, a resident of Hebbal in Bengaluru, whose name appeared in the rowdy sheet.
Kumar argued that he had reformed and was living a peaceful life, but frequent police visits and oral summons created fear of wrongful detention and violated his fundamental rights.
Kumar's counsel pointed out that apart from his inclusion in the rowdy register, no cases were pending against him.
Despite this, the police allegedly summoned him orally, abused him during enquiries, and detained him without reason.
His lawyer stressed that neither the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita nor the state police manual permits oral summons of this kind.
The state contended that it is common practice to call rowdy sheeters for enquiry and allow them to leave soon after, without infringing their rights. It further claimed that issuing formal notices to the thousands of rowdy sheeters in Bengaluru would be impractical.
Rejecting this defence, the court observed that when no legal procedure exists for summoning rowdy sheeters, the police cannot rely on oral orders or keep them at police stations for prolonged periods. Such actions, the bench noted, amount to violations of personal liberty.
To balance the rights of individuals and the needs of law enforcement, the court directed rowdy sheeters to provide a mobile number where they can receive SMS or WhatsApp messages summoning them for enquiry.
The guideline will not apply if they engage in criminal activity, and the police may visit their homes if they fail to respond to such messages.