Lucknow, The Allahabad High Court has come down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government over alleged misuse of the Goonda Act in the state, observing that cases coming before it indicate that the state government appears determined to use the stringent law as a tool of harassment.
The court also set aside the appellate order passed by the divisional commissioner upholding the DM’s decision.
The court made the observations while quashing the order of the Gonda district magistrate declaring a person named Zahid Ali a “goonda” and externing him from the district for six months.
The high court also took exception to the police report mentioning the case in which Ali had already been acquitted, observing that it indicated that an incorrect picture of the petitioner had been placed before the DM.
The high court found that Ali had already been acquitted in the 2010 case by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gonda, on August 26, 2017. The court further noted that there was a gap of nearly six years between the 2020 criminal case and the 2026 order declaring Ali a goonda. The court said that mere involvement in a single criminal case of 2020 could not establish that Ali was a habitual offender or habitually committed or abetted offences.
It observed that a case in which a person had already been acquitted could not subsequently be used as a ground to declare him a goonda. No criminal case had been registered on the basis of the information, nor had Ali been given an opportunity of hearing in relation to it.
It said no rational nexus could be established between the two. Relying on such material, the court said, would violate the principles of natural justice.
