Allahabad High Court
Ravendra Singh vs State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. ... on 28 July, 2023
Bench: Sangeeta Chandra, Renu Agarwal
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC-LKO:49939-DB
Court No. - 10
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 5823 of 2023
Petitioner :- Ravendra Singh
Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Lko. And Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhishek Yadav,Archana Yadav,Sunil Kumar Maurya
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Mrs. Sangeeta Chandra,J.
Hon'ble Mrs. Renu Agarwal,J.
(1) Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.G.A. appearing on behalf of the State.
(2) This petition has been filed with the following main relief:-
"I. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari thereby quashing the impugned First Information Report lodged by the respondent No. 2 on 19/07/2023 in case crime No. 0160 of 2023, F.I.R. No 0160 of 2023, under Sections 2/3 of Uttar - Pradesh Gangster and antisocial activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, Police Station - Sawayajpur, District - Hardoi in respect of petitioner, as contained in Annexure No. 1 to the writ petition."
(3) It has been submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is completely innocent and has been falsely implicated in the impugned F.I.R., and only one case shown to have been registered as Case Crime No. 0160 of 2023 under Section 447 of the I.P.C. and 2/3 of the Prevention of Damage Public Property Act, 1984, Police Station- Swayajpur, District Hardoi. It has also been submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that even so only on the basis of a single case, Gangster's Act cannot be imposed upon the petitioner.
(4) Per contra, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the writ petition and submitted that even though the petitioner has been accorded bail in the case as shown in the gang chart, but the law is already settled that even on the basis of solitary case proceeding under the Gangster Act may be drawn. In this regard, he has placed reliance upon the judgment passed by Hon'ble the Division Bench in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 4622 of 2019 (Somvir Vs. State of U.P. and 2 others) as well as in many judgments by this Court, wherein it is propounded that even a single case, if fulfills the category of offences given under Section 2(b) (i) to (xv) of Act and is being committed by gang defined under Section 2 (b) or gangster defined under Section 2 (c) of the Act, may be basis for registration of case crime number for offence punishable under Section 3(1) of U.P. Gangster and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Therefore, the contention of petitioner that based on one case, the imposition of Section 3(1) of Gangster Act is not leviable, would have no bearing. Reliance has also been placed on the judgment of Hon'ble the Apex Court in Shraddha Gupta Versus State of Uttar Pradesh and others, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 514, wherein the Apex Court had an occasion to consider as to whether prosecution under the Gangster Act can be initiated against a person even in case of single offence/FIR/charge sheet for any of the anti-social activities mentioned in Section 2(b) of the Gangster Act. The relevant portion of the order reads thus:
"On a fair reading of the definitions of 'Gang' contained in Section 2(b) and 'Gangster' contained in Section 2(c) of the Gangsters Act, a 'Gangster' means a member or leader or organiser of a gang including any person who abets or assists in the activities of a gang enumerated in clause (b) of Section 2, who either acting singly or collectively commits and indulges in any of the anti-social activities mentioned in Section 2(b) can be said to have committed the offence under the Gangsters Act and can be prosecuted and punished for the offence under the Gangsters Act. There is no specific provision under the Gangsters Act, 1986 like the specific provisions under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999 and the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime Act, 2015 that while prosecuting an accused under the Gangsters Act, there shall be more than one offence or the FIR/charge sheet. As per the settled position of law, the provisions of the statute are to be read and considered as it is. Therefore, considering the provisions under the Gangsters Act, 1986 as they are, even in case of a single offence/FIR/charge sheet, if it is found that the accused is a member of a 'Gang' and has indulged in any of the anti-social activities mentioned in Section 2(b) of the Gangsters Act...Therefore, so far as the Gangsters Act, 1986 is concerned, there can be prosecution against a person even in case of a single offence/FIR/charge sheet for any of the anti-social activities mentioned in Section 2(b) of the Act provided such an anti-social activity is by violence, or threat or show of violence, or intimidation, or coercion or otherwise with the object of disturbing public order or of gaining any undue temporal, pecuniary, material or other advantage for himself or any other person."
(5) Considering the facts and circumstances as well as the judgments cited above, we are also of the opinion that even on the basis of solitary case the provisions of Gangster Act can be imposed and, as such, we are not inclined to interfere in the matter.
(6) The writ petition is dismissed leaving it open for the petitioner to apply before the competent court for bail as permissible under law and in accordance with law.
Order Date :- 28.7.2023
Darpan Sharma
