With S. 111 Of BNS Covering 'Organised Crime', Hasn't Gangsters Act Become Redundant? Allahabad HC Asks UP Govt

A bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Avnish Saxena has also called for a response from the UP Government in this regard within 3 weeks.

“This Court finds that the provision of Section 111 B.N.S., is regarding punishment for committing the offence of organized crime like the provisions of the U.P. Gangsters Act, and therefore, with incorporation of Section 111 B.N.S., it appears that provisions of U.P. Gangsters Act have become redundant. We further find that the provisions of Gangsters Act have been invoked against the petitioner with regard to commission of the offences under the Penal Code which have now been substituted by B.N.S,” the bench remarked.

The bench was hearing a writ petition seeking quashing of an FIR registered under Section 3(1) of the UP Gangsters Act. The petitioner also sought protection from arrest pursuant to the said FIR.

The petitioner's counsel submitted that the Gangsters Act had been invoked despite the petitioner being on bail in all the base cases. It was argued that the FIR was a case of false implication.

On the other hand, the learned AGA opposed the plea and submitted that the petitioner had been directly implicated in the matter and hence was not entitled to relief.

After hearing the parties, the Court noted that Section 111 of BNS deals comprehensively with the offence of organised crime, covering a wide range of unlawful activities including land grabbing, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, cybercrimes, drug and human trafficking, and economic offences, among others.

The court added that the UP Gangsters Act appear to have become redundant with the incorporation of Section 111 BNS.

It further observed that the Gangsters Act had been invoked against the petitioner with regard to the commission of offences under the Penal Code, which now stands substituted by BNS.

Thus, noting that the matter required consideration, the High Court issued notice while granting interim protection to the petitioner from arrest.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court as well as the High Court have, in recent times, expressed serious concern over the arbitrary invocation of the Gangsters Act.

For instance, last year, the HC had sharply criticised the Uttar Pradesh Government officials for invoking the Gangsters Act in several cases without following due procedure.

Read more about the HC's observations in Abdul Lateef case here: 'Harassment Of Innocents A Great Sin': Allahabad HC Cites Rigveda, Bible & Quran, Slams Govt Officials For Preparing Defective Gang Charts

Furthermore, the HC also noted that the UP Government had issued comprehensive guidelines in December last year, in compliance with the judicial directions regarding the preparation of gang charts.

However, the Court noted that despite repeated directions from the High Court and Supreme Court, and the detailed guidelines issued by the UP Government, gang charts continued to be prepared in a mechanical manner.

Recently, a single judge of the HC recently directed the Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer to personally appear before it to explain their 'misconduct and negligence' over 'misuse' of the Gangsters Act in a case.

Recently, the HC had taken strong exception to the repeated and arbitrary invocation of the 1986 Act against a man, allegedly to keep him inside the jail.

Terming the imposition of the Gangsters Act as a 'sheer misuse of law', a bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal directed the concerned District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer to personally appear before it to explain their 'misconduct and negligence'.

In fact, in 2024, the top court directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to consider the desirability of formulating specific parameters or guidelines governing the invocation of the provisions of the Act. Pursuant to this direction, the State Government issued certain instructions along with a detailed checklist on December 2, 2024.

These guidelines were subsequently adopted and given legal enforceability by the Supreme Court itself in a recent case involving SHUATS University Director Vinod Bihari Lal. The bench also directed the authorities to strictly follow the guidelines.

Key directions issued by the state government concerning the Act can be read here.

Very recently, the High Court directed the Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Government, to look into the continued non-compliance of judicial guidelines and directions regarding the preparation of gang charts under the 1986 Act.

Case title - Vijay Singh vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others

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