HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE R. SUBHASH REDDY Writ Petition No.21728 of 2009 Date: March 8, 2011 Between: Katheeb Syyed Ummar, S/o.K.S.Hameed, Aged 50 years, Prop.M/s.Sabhiha Agencies, d.No.7/946, Anantapur Road, Gooty, Anantapur District … Petitioner And Station House Officer, Gooty Police Station, Gooty, Anantapur District and others … Respondents Order: Petitioner seeks a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in opening and continuing K.D.Sheet against him vide K.D.Sheet No.773/2004 on the file of the first respondent as arbitrary, illegal and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and a consequential direction to the respondents to close the said K.D.Sheet. The facts of the case, as culled out from the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, are as under: Petitioner is a resident of Gooty in Anantapur District and his wife is the President of Gooty Mandal Parishad. He was unauthorizedly implicated in certain crimes and although he was acquitted in the said crimes by the competent courts, respondent-Police opened K.D.Sheet No.773 of 2004 against him on the file of the first respondent and are continuing the same without any basis. It is stated that his daughter is residing in a foreign country and to visit her he applied for a passport; but his application was rejected on the ground that the K.D.Sheet opened against him is pending on the file of the first respondent. Precisely, it is the case of the petitioner that K.D.Sheet is opened against him without any basis and is being continued despite the fact that he is acquitted in the cases registered him and no further crimes are registered against him. Respondent No.1, Circle Inspector of Police, Gooty Police Station, Anantapur District, has filed counter-affidavit on behalf of respondents. While denying the allegations of the petitioner, it is stated in the counter that the petitioner was an organizer of matka in the year 1986 and was involved in gambling cases, i.e. petty case Nos.39/97, 77/97, 81/97, 89/97 and he was convicted in all the said cases. It is further stated that he was involved in Crime No.212/04 registered for the offences under Sections 3 and 4 of Gaming Act on the file of Gooty Police Station and in Crime Nos.14/05, 41/06 registered for the offence under Section 20 (b) (i) of NDPS Act, 1985 on the file of Gooty Police Station and in Crime No.181/09 registered for the offence under Section 506 of IPC on the file of the same Police Station. It is alleged that in view of involvement of the petitioner in the aforesaid criminal cases; to curb and curtail his unlawful activities in the vicinity of Gooty Police Station limits, permission was obtained from the competent authority to open a K.D.Sheet, and accordingly, K.D.Sheet was opened against him on the rolls of Gooty Police Station on 10-12-2004 and is being continued. In the counter-affidavit, it is categorically stated that at present, no cases are pending against the petitioner on the file of Gooty Police Station; however, frightened by the petitioner, nobody is coming forward to lodge a complaint against him. Heard Sri B.Sarvothama Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner and also the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home, appearing for respondent-Police. Presently, opening of K.D.Sheets is governed by Standing Order No.596-1 of the Andhra Pradesh Police Standing Orders. As per the said Standing Order, Police are authorized to open history sheets on persons convicted, and such history sheets shall be retained for a period of two years after release of such persons from jail. It is to be noticed that, as per the Police Standing Orders, once rowdy sheets, history sheets and K.D.Sheets are opened, they have to be reviewed periodically. When certain cases were registered against the petitioner, a K.D.Sheet was opened against him in the year 2004. As evident from the counter affidavit, although the petitioner was convicted in the cases registered in the year 1997 as referred to in the counter-affidavit, no conviction has been recorded against him in the subsequent crimes and further no fresh cases are registered against him after 2009; as such there appears no reason or justification for continuing the K.D.Sheet opened against the petitioner. For the foregoing reasons, I am of the considered opinion that it is evidently a fit case to quash the K.D.Sheet opened against the petitioner. Accordingly, K.D.Sheet No. 773 of 2004 opened against the petitioner, on the file of Gooty Police Station, Anantapur District, and which is being continued, is hereby quashed. Writ petition is accordingly allowed. No costs. __________________ R. SUBHASH REDDY, J March 8, 2011 Note: Furnish C.C. in 3 days B.O. MRR