The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, has directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that all District Magistrates are apprised of the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the High Court regarding the invocation of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986. The Court further directed that, if necessary, a fresh training programme be conducted for competent authorities to ensure compliance with the statutory framework and judicial precedents.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal passed the order on June 27, 2025, in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 5658 of 2025, filed by Shabbir Husain and another. The petition challenged the FIR dated 28.04.2025 registered under Sections 2(b)(i) and 3 of the Gangsters Act in Case Crime No. 172 of 2025 at Police Station Bhira, District Kheri.
Counsel for the petitioner, Sri Syed Raza Mehdi, argued that the gang chart accompanying the FIR lacked proper approval from the District Magistrate as required under Rule 16 of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021. He relied upon judicial precedents including Sanni Mishra @ Sanjayan Kumar Mishra vs. State of U.P., 2023 SCC OnLine All 2975; Abdul Lateef @ Mustak Khan vs. State of U.P., 2024 SCC OnLine All 3900; and Vinod Bihari Lal vs. State of U.P., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1216.
The State opposed the petition but could not dispute the procedural shortcomings raised.
The Court noted that in the present case, the District Magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri had merely written “discussed with Superintendent of Police and Committee and proposal approved” while approving the gang chart. The Bench held this to be a clear instance of non-application of mind and a violation of Rule 16 of the Rules, 2021, as well as contrary to the law laid down by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Court observed:
“This fact shows that a training programme conducted by the State Government has no effect on the District Magistrate, Lakhimpur Kheri and even she ignored the guidelines of the State Government dated 02.12.2024 and approved the gang chart in utter violation of the directions issued by the High Court Allahabad as well as Supreme Court.”
It further directed:
“The Chief Secretary, Govt. of U.P. is directed to look into this issue and shall apprise all the District Magistrates about the guidelines and directions issued by the High Court and Supreme Court regarding preparation of gang chart for invocation of Gangsters Act and if requires, a fresh training programme be initiated for the competent authorities under the Gangsters Act.”
The Court referred to previous authoritative pronouncements that emphasized strict compliance with procedural safeguards under the Gangsters Act. These include detailed directions issued in Sanni Mishra, Abdul Lateef, Rajeev Kumar @ Raju, Vinod Bihari Lal, Gorakh Nath Mishra, and Lal Mohammad vs. State of U.P., among others. The Supreme Court in Vinod Bihari Lal held that mere signature on pre-printed gang charts without proper application of mind amounts to a “complete non-application of mind” and violates Rules 16 and 17 of the 2021 Rules.
The Bench concluded that both the FIR and gang chart had been prepared in violation of the Rules and judicial directives, and thus quashed them as against the petitioner. However, it granted liberty to the authorities to initiate fresh proceedings under the Act after due compliance with the law.
