Allahabad High Court
Rinku Zakariya And 8 Others vs State Of U.P. And 2 Others on 20 September, 2023
Bench: Vivek Kumar Birla, Vinod Diwakar
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:181430-DB
Court No. - 45
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 10471 of 2023
Petitioner :- Rinku Zakariya And 8 Others
Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Vineet Pandey,Aditya Gupta,Pranvesh
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Sadrul Islam Jafri,Mohammad Shajad Ahmad
Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Birla,J.
Hon'ble Vinod Diwakar,J.
1. Counter affidavit filed today is taken on record.
2. Heard Sri Vineet Pandey, learned counsel for the petitioners, Sri Avais Khan holding brief of Sri Sadrul Islam Jafri, learned counsel appearing for the informant and Sri Ratan Singh, learned A.G.A. appearing for the State respondents.
3. Present writ petition has been preferred with the prayer to quash the impugned first information report dated 21.6.2023 registered as Case Crime No. 331 of 2023, under Sections 3(1) of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, Police Station- Kotwali, District Azamgarh.
4. Submission of learned counsel for the petitioners is that the gang chart has been merely forwarded by the competent authority and as such there is no application of mind in the present case, hence the mandate of Rule 16 of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021 framed under the Gangster Act is violated where independent application of mind is necessary. Learned counsel for the petitioners also argued the other factual aspects of the matter to show how the petitioners have been falsely implicated in the base first information report. It was also submitted that while preparing the gang chart, provisions of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021, have not been followed. Attention was drawn to Rule 16 of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021, in support of his arguments.
5. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has opposed the petition and placed reliance upon the judgment rendered by Hon'ble the Apex Court in the case of Shraddha Gupta Vs. State of U.P. and others (Criminal Appeal Nos.569-570 of 2022, decided on 26.04.2022) and submits that for a single offence/FIR, an accused person can be prosecuted under the U.P. Gangster and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986. He also submitted that in the base F.I.R., charge-sheet has also been submitted and there is no violation of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021.
6. We also find that long history of the petitioners have been disclosed in paragraphs 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the writ petition, which clearly reflects that the petitioner no. 1 has criminal history of five cases, petitioner no. 2 has criminal history of four cases, petitioner nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 have criminal history of one case, petitioner no. 8 has criminal history of three cases and petitioner no. 9 has criminal history of two cases. Criminal history of the petitioners have also been disclosed in the short counter affidavit filed by learned A.G.A.
7. Insofar as the violation of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021, are concerned, we find that the entire scheme of U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, as well as the rules framed thereunder have already been considered by this Court in detail in Ambuj Parag Dubey And 2 Others Vs. State Of U.P. And 2 Others, 2022 (4) ACR 3878 and in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 2683 of 2023, Virendra Kasaudhan Vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others, decided on 19.04.2023.
8. In view of the above, we do not find any illegality in the preparation of gang chart particularly when no specific assertion has been made as to how and in what manner there is violation of Rule 16 of the Rules, 2021.
9. The writ petition is devoid of merits and is accordingly, dismissed.
Order Date :- 20.9.2023
Lalit Shukla
