- 1 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 28TH DAY OF JULY, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ WRIT PETITION NO. 22942 OF 2026 (GM-POLICE) BETWEEN: SRI R RAVI AGED ABOUT 25 YEARS, S/O LATE RAGHU, R/AT 1ST CROSS, MARLURU DHINNE, TUMKURU - 572 105. …PETITIONER (BY SRI. B. MADHUSUDHAN ADIGA, ADVOCATE) AND: 1. STATE OF KARNATAKA REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, HOME DEPARTMENT, VIDHANA SOUDHA, BENGALURU - 560 001. 2. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE TUMKUR DISTRICT, S P OFFICE, TUMKUR - 572 102. 3. THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER (SI) JAYANAGAR POLICE STATION, TUMKURU - 572 101. …RESPONDENTS (BY SMT. SARITHA KULKARNI, AGA) Digitally signed by SHWETHA RAGHAVENDRA Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA - 2 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO UASHING THE IMPUGNED NOTICE DATED 16.07.2026 ISSUED BY THE R3 VIDE ANNEXURE-D; GRANT AN INTERIM ORDER TO STAY THE OPERATION OF THE IMPUGNED NOTICE DATED 16.07.2026 ISSUED BY THE R3 VIDE ANNX-D. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ ORAL ORDER 1. Learned AGA is directed to accept notice for the respondents. 2. The petitioner is before this Court seeking for the following reliefs: a) Issue a writ of Certiorari or any other like order quashing the impugned Notice dated 16.07.2026 issued by the III respondent vide Annexure-D; b) Pass such other writ/s, direction/s, order/s as deemed fit to pass under the facts and circumstances of the case in the interest of justice and equity. - 3 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 3. The petitioner has called in question the notice dated 16.07.2026, produced at Annexure-D, issued by Respondent No.3, whereby the petitioner has been called upon to show-cause as to why his name should not be entered in the Rowdy Register/Rowdy Sheet on the ground of the pendency of Crime No.87/2021. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that an identical notice dated 31.12.2023 had earlier been issued by the respondent authorities proposing to open a rowdy sheet against the petitioner. The petitioner had challenged the said notice before this Court, and a Co-ordinate Bench, by order dated 22.07.2024, quashed the same. It is further submitted that Crime No.87/2021 culminated in Sessions Case No.160/2023, wherein, by judgment dated 10.07.2025, the petitioner was acquitted of all - 4 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 the charges. Therefore, as on the date of issuance of the impugned notice dated 16.07.2026, no criminal proceedings were pending against the petitioner. In such circumstances, the issuance of the impugned notice proposing to open or continue a rowdy sheet is wholly without authority of law. 5. There can be no dispute with regard to the aforesaid submission. The earlier notice proposing to open a rowdy sheet against the petitioner had already been quashed by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court. Thereafter, the criminal proceedings arising out of Crime No.87/2021 culminated in the acquittal of the petitioner. It is not the case of the respondents that any other criminal case is pending against the petitioner. Thus, there existed no factual or legal basis for either opening or continuing a rowdy sheet in the name of the petitioner after his acquittal in the only criminal case relied upon by the respondents. - 5 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 Consequently, the impugned notice cannot be sustained. 6. This is not an isolated instance that has come before this Court. Time and again, this Court has noticed that notices proposing to open a rowdy sheet or to continue an existing rowdy sheet are issued solely on the basis of the registration of a criminal case, without verifying the subsequent status of the said proceedings. In a considerable number of cases, the criminal proceedings, which formed the very foundation for opening or continuing the rowdy sheet had already culminated in acquittal, discharge, quashing of the proceedings by the High Court, compounding of the offence, or closure of the investigation. Despite the same, the authorities continue to issue notices mechanically, compelling citizens to approach this Court to challenge proceedings which ought not to have been initiated in the first place. - 6 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 7. The opening or continuation of a rowdy sheet has serious civil consequences. Though it may be an administrative measure intended to maintain public order and monitor habitual offenders, its existence has the potential to adversely affect the reputation, dignity and liberty of an individual. It also results in continuous surveillance by the police and may adversely impact the person's employment, business, social standing and interaction with public authorities. Such a measure, therefore, cannot be resorted to in a routine or mechanical manner. The competent authority is required to satisfy itself, on the basis of existing and relevant material, that the conditions prescribed under law for opening or continuing a rowdy sheet are in fact satisfied. 8. In the present era of digitization, the Police Department has access to sophisticated information technology systems, including the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), - 7 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) and other police databases. The criminal justice system has also substantially adopted electronic case management through the e-Courts project. Information relating to the registration of crimes, filing of charge sheets, pendency of criminal cases, orders of discharge or acquittal, convictions, appeals, revisions, petitions under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (now Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023), and interim or final orders passed therein is capable of being digitally integrated and made readily accessible to the jurisdictional police authorities. Once such information is available electronically, there can be little justification for initiating proceedings on the basis of outdated or incomplete information. 9. This Court is of the considered opinion that the Police Department ought to establish an integrated mechanism whereby the status of every criminal - 8 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 proceeding against a person can be verified before any decision is taken to open or continue a rowdy sheet. Such a mechanism should not merely indicate the registration of a crime but should also disclose the subsequent stages of the proceedings, including the filing of the final report, committal of the case, trial, acquittal, conviction, discharge, quashing of proceedings, pendency of appeals or revisions, proceedings before the High Court or the Hon’ble Supreme Court, suspension or stay of criminal proceedings, and the ultimate outcome thereof. The database should be updated in real time or at periodic intervals so that the information available to the field officers remains current and accurate. 10. Accordingly, the Inspector General of Police, Police Computer Wing, is requested to examine the feasibility of developing, or suitably upgrading the existing digital infrastructure, so as to provide an integrated platform containing the complete status of - 9 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 criminal proceedings initiated against any individual. Such platform shall, to the extent technologically feasible, draw information from the CCTNS, the ICJS, the e-Courts database and such other governmental databases as may be available, so as to provide a single-window view of the status of every criminal case relating to a person. 11. The Director General and Inspector General of Police is further directed to issue appropriate administrative instructions to all police officers in the State that, before issuing any notice proposing to open a rowdy sheet or continue an existing rowdy sheet, the competent authority shall mandatorily verify the status of all criminal proceedings against the proposed rowdy from the aforesaid database or any other official source. The authority shall record in writing that such verification has been undertaken, the date on which it was undertaken, the source from which the information was obtained, the criminal - 10 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 cases that continue to remain pending, and the reasons which, according to the authority, justify the opening or continuation of the rowdy sheet notwithstanding the status of those proceedings. Such verification and recording of satisfaction shall constitute an essential prerequisite before any notice is issued. 12. The above directions are intended not merely to prevent avoidable litigation before this Court but also to ensure that the powers of the police are exercised fairly, transparently and upon the basis of accurate and up-to-date information. The State, being a model litigant, is expected to take full advantage of the technological infrastructure available to it so that unnecessary proceedings are avoided, administrative decisions are informed by correct factual data, and the fundamental rights and reputation of citizens are not adversely affected on account of obsolete or incorrect records. - 11 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010506672026 NC: 2026:KHC:39259 WP No. 22942 of 2026 13. Coming back to the present matter, the notice dated 16.07.2026, at Annexure-D, having been issued without verification of the fact that Crime No.87/2021 had ended in acquittal, this Court passes the following: ORDER i. The writ petition is allowed; ii. A certiorari is issued. The notice dated 16.07.2026 issued by Respondent No.3, at Annexure-D is quashed; iii. Though the above matter is disposed, re-list on 25.08.2026 at 2.30 pm., for reporting compliance. Sd/- (SURAJ GOVINDARAJ) JUDGE DH List No.: 1 Sl No.: 29