SC declares UP Gangsters Act stillborn, quashes proceedings against advocates

The Supreme Court on Thursday declared the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, 'stillborn', holding that the legislation does not create any distinct criminal offence and cannot sustain prosecution merely on the basis of a person being labelled a 'gangster'. A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran observed that the Act, on the pretext of adjuring violence, is capable of perpetuating it against unsuspecting citizens. The Court quashed criminal proceedings under the Act against two advocates, Shiv Pratap Singh and Himanshu Srivastava, who were involved in a dispute regarding elections to a Bar Association.

The Court applied the constitutional principle under Article 20(1), no crime or punishment without a penal law, to note that the UP Act is stillborn. It criticised the Act for enabling trial and punishment based on a gang chart without the commission of an actual offence. The Court clarified that it was not deciding the constitutional validity of the Act, those questions remain open. Separately, the Allahabad High Court quashed an FIR under the same Act for procedural violations, including failure to hold a mandatory joint meeting and incorrect entries showing an accused on bail as being in jail.

Livelaw.in reports that the Allahabad High Court found the gang chart had been approved without application of mind and without the joint meeting required under Rule 5(3)(a) of the UP Gangsters Rules, 2021. The Court noted that the authorities failed to examine records and made false entries, vitiating the approval.