Photo Of ‘Rowdy’ Not Displayed In Police Stations To Protect Their Right To Privacy: Kerala High Court

The Kerala Excessive Courtroom lately noticed that after a rowdy sheet/listing is opened in opposition to an individual it isn’t displayed within the premises of the police station however is definitely stored in a safe space which is accessible solely to police officers to make sure that “felony’s proper to privateness” isn’t infringed.
Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan made the observations in his order whereas directing the removal of a person’s name from the rowdy list of Fort Kochi Police Station since he has not been concerned in any felony exercise for the previous 8 years.
The excessive court docket noticed that there’s a “basic perception within the society that the rowdy listing will probably be revealed within the police station” in order that all people going there can see the rowdy listing and the pictures of the individuals talked about there in.
“Even in some Malayalam motion pictures, such an outline is given stating that the title and {photograph} of the rowdies will probably be exhibited within the police station. This can be a improper idea.The society ought to know that, as soon as a rowdy historical past sheet is opened in opposition to a particular person, it won’t be flaunted to the general public, and such a sheet is opened just for the reference of the cops in that police station,” the court docket stated.
It additional referred to assertion of involved DCP filed within the current case which said that when an individual is discovered to have a number of severe felony circumstances registered in opposition to him and is taken into account a ordinary offender or a risk to public order, his title and {photograph} are entered within the rowdy listing. The assertion stated that pictures are displayed throughout the police station premises in a safe space accessible solely to police personnel, guaranteeing confidentiality and stopping public publicity.
The excessive court docket thereafter stated:
“Within the gentle of the identical, it’s clear that the pictures of the criminals are usually not displayed within the police station premises, which is accessible to the general public. It is going to be stored in a safe space accessible solely to the police personnel, guaranteeing confidentiality and stopping public publicity. Due to this fact, there isn’t a infringement of the privateness of the criminals, and society also needs to know the identical“.
The court docket thereafter directed that the particular person’s title be faraway from the “surveillance listing/Rowdy Historical past sheet of criminals” stored within the involved police station.
Case No: XXX v. Metropolis Police Commissioner, Kochi and Ors.