It is most striking to note that while catching the bull by the horns, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the gross misuse in the application of Gangsters Act in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Lal Mohd & Anr. vs State of U.P. & Ors. in Criminal Appeal of 2025 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No (s). 6607 of 2023) and cited in Neutral Citation No.: 2025 INSC 811 that was pronounced recently on May 14, 2025.
The Supreme Court in the exercise of its criminal appellate jurisdiction has quashed an FIR that had been registered under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, against former Nagar Panchayat Chairman Lal Mohd. and his son ruling emphatically that there was no material to support the allegation of organised crime.
It must be noted here that the Apex Court very rightly held that the invocation of the Gangsters Act in such circumstances “would constitute a manifest abuse of the legal process and result in gross miscarriage of justice.” To put it differently, the top court has strongly warned against the most rampant misuse of stringent laws like the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 saying that such laws should not be used as a means of oppression, especially when political motivations are suspected.
The Bench of Apex Court comprising of Hon’ble Mr Justice Vikram Nath and Hon’ble Mr Justice Sandeep Mehta passed this courageous judgment allowing the appeal that had been made against the May 3, 2023 judgment of the Allahabad High Court, which had dismissed the appellants’ writ petition seeking quashing of the FIR. We thus see that the Apex Court set aside the judgment of the Allahabad High Court.
On 10th October, 2022, one Rikki Modanwal made a post on a social media platform in which he allegedly used language perceived as defamatory towards a particular religion. In response, several believers of that religion (including the appellants herein) assembled outside the shop owned by Rikki Modanwal raising vociferous protests against the said social media post. The protests escalated into violence and acts of vandalism between two different religious groups.
Multiple FIR(s) were registered on 11th October 2022, against the people involved in the aforesaid incidents. An FIR, bearing CC No. 294 of 2022 (Hereinafter referred to as the ‘First FIR.’), was registered by Sonu Modanwal nominating 41 accused persons.
On 30th April, 2023, Arun Kumar Dwivedi, Inspector-in-charge, filed the impugned FIR against the appellants herein and 39 other accused, under Section 3(1) of the UP Gangsters Act alleging inter alia, that on 10th October, 2022, at around 8:00 P.M., a group of assailants, led by appellant No. 1, gathered at Rikki Modanwal’s shop in Subzi Mandi, Khargupur, armed with lathis and glass bottles. They reportedly hurled abuses, issued death threats, and vandalised the shop while protesting against the social media post that targeted a specific religious group.
The Apex Court has made it manifestly clear that the invocation of Gangsters Act without evidence of organised crime is abuse of law. This definitely cannot be allowed to happen. This alone explains why the Apex Court so very commendably set aside the judgment of the Allahabad High Court which had dismissed the appellants’ writ petition seeking quashing of the FIR. It was thus laid down explicitly by the top court that the UP Gangster Act cannot be used as a tool of harassment and oppression especially when political motivations are suspected and cautioned very strongly against the routine invocation of such a stringent extraordinary legislation like the UP Gangsters Act.
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col (Retd) BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut - 250001, Uttar Pradesh