Sukhram Soni (Minor) v. State of U.P. and 3 Others

Court No. - 43 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 19148 of 2023 Petitioner :- Sukhram Soni (Minor) Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ganesh Shanker Srivastava,Deepak Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- G.A. Hon'ble Anjani Kumar Mishra,J. Hon'ble Mohd. Azhar Husain Idrisi,J.

¶1Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.G.A. for the State.

¶2The instant writ petition seeks quashing of the FIR dated

06.09.2023 giving rise to Case Crime No. 212 of 2023, under Section 3(1) of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as "Gangsters Act"), P.S. Dumariaganj, District Siddharth Nagar.

¶3The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that in the impugned F.I.R., only Section 3(1) of Gangsters Act was mentioned which is the provision for imposing penalty upon gangsters. However, no other provision is mentioned showing the anti social activities in which the petitioner is alleged to have indulged on account of which the petitioner is being prosecuted as gangster.

¶4An identical controversy arose and has been considered in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No.18729 of 2023, Asim @ Hassim Vs. State of U.P. and Another, wherein the Court has held as follows:- "9. In the present case, the impugned F.I.R. was registered u/s 3(1) Gangsters Act, without mentioning the corresponding provision, mentioning the anti social activities in which the accused is involved and on the basis of which he was named as gangster. A person cannot be punished without specifying the offence committed by him which would justify his classification as a Gangster.

¶10Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this Court is of the view that the impugned F.I.R. is illegal being contrary to the provision of Gangsters Act by failing to mention the relevant section of the Act. Therefore, the impugned F.I.R. is hereby quashed."

¶5Identical is the situation in the case at hand and in view of the judgment in Asim @ Hassim (supra), this writ petition is also liable to be allowed.

¶6The writ petition is accordingly allowed. The impugned FIR dated 06.09.2023 giving rise to Case Crime No. 212 of 2023, under Section 3(1) of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as "Gangsters Act"), P.S. Dumariaganj, District Siddharth Nagar, is hereby quashed.

¶7It is however clarified that dismissal of this petition will not preclude the respondents from initiative fresh proceedings against the petitioner strictly in accordance with law, in case, the situation so demands. Order Date :- 8.12.2023 Aditya Tripathi High Court of Judicature at Allahabad