High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 85 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 17794 of 2022 Applicant :- Girish Chandra Mishra And 3 Others Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Jawahar Lal Pandey Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Lakshman Prasad Ojha,Pawan Prakash Shukla,Praveen Kumar Mishra Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J. Heard learned counsel for the applicants, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. This application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the applicants to quash the entire proceedings of the impugned chargesheet no.01/2020 dated 23.07.2020 along with cognizance order dated 07.01.2021 submitted in Case Case Crime No. 0147/2019 under Sections 2/3 of U.P. Gangster and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, Police Station-Ecotech-III, District-Gautam Budh Nagar.
Legal Reasoning
Learned counsel for the applicants submits that in all the FIRs as detailed in the gang- chart, protection has been granted in criminal writ petitions filed by the applicants. Therefore, no FIR could have been lodged under section 2/3 of U.P. Gangster and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Before proceeding with the case, it would be appropriate to place the extract of sections 2 (b) and 2 (c) of U.P. Gangster and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') which defines a 'gang' and 'gangster' respectively: "(b) "Gang" means a group of persons, who acting either singly or collectively, 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, indulge in anti-social activities, namely- (i) offences punishable under Chapter XVI or Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code (Act No. 45 of 1860), or (ii) distilling or manufacturing or .storing or transporting or importing or exporting or selling or distributing any liquor, or intoxicating or dangerous drugs, or other intoxicants or narcotics or cultivating any plant, in contravention of any of the provisions of the U.P. Excise Act, 1910 (U.P. Act No. 4 of 1910), or the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (Act No. 61 of 1985), or any other law for the time being in force, or (iii) occupying or taking possession of immovable property otherwise than in accordance with law, or setting-up false claims for title or possession of immovable property whether in himself or any other person, or (iv) preventing or attempting to prevent any public servant or any witness from discharging his lawful duties, or (v) offences punishable under the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 (Act No. 104 of 1956), or (vi) offences punishable under Section 3 of the Public Gambling Act, 1867 (Act No. 3 of 1867), or (vii) preventing any person from offering bids in auction lawfully conducted, or tender, lawfully invited, by or on behalf of any Government department, local body or public or private undertaking, for any lease or rights or supply of goods or work to be done, or (viii) preventing or disturbing the smooth running by any person of his lawful business, profession, trade or employment or any other lawful activity connected therewith, or (ix) offences punishable under Section 171-E of the Indian Penal Code (Act No. 45 of 1860), or in preventing or obstructing any public election being lawfully held, by physically preventing the voter from exercising his electoral rights, or (x) inciting others to resort to violence to disturb communal harmony, or (xi) creating panic, alarm or terror in public, or (xii) terrorising or assaulting employees or owners or occupiers of public or private undertakings or factories and causing mischief in respect of their properties, or (xiii) inducing or attempting to induce any person to go to foreign countries on false representation that any employment, trade or profession shall be provided to him in such foreign country, or (xiv) kidnapping or abducting any person with intent to extort ransom, or (xv) diverting or otherwise preventing any aircraft or public transport vehicle from following its scheduled course; [(xvi) offences punishable under the Regulation of Money Lending Act, 1976; (xvii) illegally transporting and/or smuggling of cattle and indulging in acts in contravention of the provisions in the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; (xviii) human trafficking for purposes of commercial exploitation, bonded labour, child labour, sexual exploitation, organ removing and trafficking, beggary and the like activities. (xix) offences punishable under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1966: (xx) printing, transporting and circulating of fake Indian currency notes; (xxi) involving in production, sale and distribution of spurious drugs; (xxii) involving in manufacture, sale and transportation of arms and ammunition in contravention of Sections 5, 7 and 12 of the Arms Act, 1959; (xxiii) felling or killing for economic gains, smuggling of products in contravention of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; (xxiv) offences punishable under the Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979; (xvv) indulging in crimes that impact security of State, public order and even tempo of life.] (c) "gangster" means a member or leader or organiser of a gang and includes any person who abets or assists in the activities of a gang enumerated in clause (b), whether before or after the commission of such activities or harbours any person who has indulged in such activities;" A bare reading of the above shows that any person or group of persons who act either singly or collectively doing any such act which disturbs public body while indulging in antisocial activities is considered to be part of the gang. Whereas, 'gangster' means a member or leader or organiser of a gang who indulges in antisocial activities which disturbs public order. The submission of learned counsel for the applicants that in all the FIRs as detailed in the gang-chart, protection has been granted in criminal writ petitions filed by the applicants does not mean that they have been acquitted in those cases. Even after acquittal in cases as detailed in the gang-chart, a person cannot claim that he was not part of the gang considering sections 2 (b) and 2 (c) of the Act. The law regarding the aforesaid is clear as has been detailed in the judgments passed in 'Shraddha Gupta vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others' reported in 2022 SCC Online SC 514; 'Ritesh Kumar @ Rikki vs. State of U.P. and Another', reported in 2021 (7) ADJ 305 (DB); 'Subhash vs. State of U.P. and another' reported in 1998 SCC OnLine All 973; 'Ajai Rai vs. State of U.P. and others' reported in 1995 Cri LJ 2801; and 'Anwar Shahzad vs. State of UP and others' Crl. Misc. Writ Petition No. 3668 of 2021 decided on 02.02.2022.
Legal Reasoning
Learned counsel for the opposite party as well as learned A.G.A. for the State submit that the applicants have not been able to show that they are not part of any gang.
Decision
In view of the above, the present application lacks merit and is, accordingly, dismissed. Order Date :- 14.9.2022 Madhurima Digitally signed by MADHURIMA GARG Date: 2022.10.21 10:36:17 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad