Telangana government calls off survey of offenders, tells Hyderabad High Court
Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Monday informed the Hyderabad High Court that a circular issued by the Director General of Police of the state for conducting a comprehensive survey of offenders (Sakala Nerasthula Samagra Survey) in the state has ceased to operate. The state’s advocate-general, D. Prakash Reddy, told the court that on January 3, 2018, the DGP had issued a circular for a survey to be conducted by all law and order police stations, railway police stations and central crime stations in the state, covering professional offenders and repeat offenders, in a single day on January 18, for bringing them under surveillance of ‘TSCOP’.
The A-G then placed a memo before Justice A.V. Sesha Sai, issued by the DGP on February 7, 2018, wherein it was stated that the subject covered under the circular dated January 3 has ceased to operate and all police officers in the state were instructed that they shall not act under the said circular any further. The judge was hearing two separate petitions, one by Chirrabona Badrinath Yadav Bhadri, former corporator and Telugu Desam's Greater Hyderabad BC cell president, and the other by Abdul Hafeez, a resident of Kalwakurthy in Mahabubnagar, both questioning the circular of the DGP.
The petitioners contended that in pressurising them to disclose the names of their advocates, pan brokers and also if they had a concubine, the police action is an infringement of fundamental rights of citizens. After persuing the memo presented by the A-G, the judge said that the cause of action in both petitions would not survive in view of the circular in question ceasing to be in operation. The counsel for the petitioners urged the court to direct the police to return the data collected from the petitioners as there was possibility for its misuse by the police.
The A-G objected to the return of the data and gave an assurance that the police will not collect any information in future based on the circular. While making it clear that the petitioners have the liberty to approach the court if the police act in violation of the law, the judge closed the petitions.
