PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 31 -- Observing that police cannot exercise 'unbridled' and 'uncanalised' power in opening history sheets against someone merely on the basis of their likes or dislikes, the Allahabad High Court added that there must be cogent and reliable material to form a reasonable suspicion to open the record. Allowing a writ petition filed by one Mohammad Wajir, a division bench comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Santosh Rai quashed a June 2025 order of the superintendent of police of Siddharthnagar, rejecting the petitioner's application for closure of his history sheet. "Police do not possess a licence to enter the names of whoever they like or dislike in the surveillance register," the court added. The petitioner had only one case registered against him under the Uttar Pradesh Cow Slaughter Act in 2016. He has since been facing trial, but no other FIR, NCR, or complaint has ever been registered against him. It was argued that the police authority opened the history sheet on the basis of only one incident/case, which was registered eight years ago. The court said that ordinarily, the names of persons with previous criminal records alone are entered in the surveillance register, and such persons must be proclaimed offenders, previous convicts, or persons who have already been placed on security for good behaviour. The court added that a solitary eight-year-old case under the Cow Slaughter Act did not make the petitioner a habitual offender....