Police have no right to barge into history sheeters' homes at odd hours: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently held that the police have no right to try to enter the homes of suspects or 'history sheeters' at odd hours in the name of surveillance [Prasath C v. State of Kerala & Anr.]..Justice VG Arun observed that such house visits do not fall within the ambit of lawful surveillance and are violative of one's right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. Referring to landmark Supreme Court decisions in Kharak Singh v.State of UP and KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the judge underscored that the sanctity of a person's home cannot be disturbed without just and legal authority even if they have criminal antecedents."It is thus beyond cavil that the police have no right to knock at the doors of suspected persons or history sheeters under the guise of surveillance... In other words, every man's house is his castle or temple, the sanctity of which cannot be vilified by knocking on the door at odd hours. A person's right to life encompasses the right to live with dignity and dignity is non-negotiable. The above discussion leads to the definite conclusion that, under the guise of surveillance, the police cannot knock on the doors or barge into the houses of history sheeters," the Court added..The judgment was passed on a petition moved by one Prasath C who was booked under Section 117(e) the Kerala Police Act for allegedly intimidating officers who visited his Kochi residence at 1:30 am on April 3, 2025, during a night check on 'history sheeters'. 'History sheeter' refers to individuals who have been previously involved in criminal activity and are kept under police surveillance.The police claimed that their visit was a routine surveillance as Prasath was listed as a rowdy history sheeter.Prasath, however, contended that the visit was part of the continued harassment he has been subjected to following his acquittal in a POCSO case filed at the same police station. He had filed a complaint with the State Police Chief after his acquittal in the case. He claimed that he has since been facing retaliation from police officers.Prasath alleged that he was assaulted when he was summoned to the station the day after the 1:30 am police visit. He first moved the Court with a different petition raising his grievances. In that case, the Court directed the Principal Secretary of Home Department to conduct an enquiry into his complaint.He approached the High Court again by way of the present petition seeking to quash the proceedings initiated against him over the late night police visit. .After going through the facts and submissions, the Court observed that such police visits were not authorised under the Kerala Police Manual. Even the Kerala Police Manual permits only informal surveillance of individuals with criminal history in a confidential and non-intrusive manner, the Court noted. "What is permitted by the provision is only, 'informal watching' of history sheeters and 'close watch' over those leading criminal existence. Undoubtedly, neither of those expressions permit domicile visits at night," the Court explained.The Court further said that demanding someone to step out of their house at 1:30 am was not a 'lawful direction' under Section 39 (Lawful directions of police to be complied with) of the Kerala Police Act. The Court, however, clarified that any abusive or threatening conduct by the petitioner during the incident could amount to other offences if proven. Consequently, the Court quashed quashed all further proceedings in the criminal case registered against Prasath. .Prasath was represented by advocates Ashik K Mohamed Ali, Muhammed Rifa PM, Ehlas Haleema CK, Salman Faris and Gayathri Ashish Nair.Senior Public Prosecutor MC Ashi appeared for the State..[Read Order]