Supreme Court (data map)
The Supreme Court said the Uttar Pradesh Gangs and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act appears to be stringent. A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanathan made this observation on Wednesday while hearing a petition by a person in which the May 2023 order of the Allahabad High Court was challenged. Accepting the appeal, the judge said the bill appeared draconian and would be considered.
While hearing the case in November last year, the Supreme Court had sought responses from the Uttar Pradesh Yogi government and other governments on the petition. In the meantime, the court said it would not take any punitive action against the petitioner through an interim interim order under the Gangster Act.
Applicant’s lawyer appears in court to defend
On Wednesday, December 4, the petitioner’s counsel told the court that a case has been registered against him under the provisions of the 1986 Act for illegal mining in the Ganga. Earlier, another FIR related to alleged illegal mining had been registered, the lawyer said. ‘They said I had been booked twice but for the same fee,’ Keel said. In this regard, lawyers appearing for the state government cited the provisions of the 1986 Act.
read this too
“This needs to be considered”
During the hearing, the judge said this needed to be considered. It also said another petition challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the bill is also pending before it.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner before the High Court argued that he was wrongly implicated in the case registered under the Gangster Act. The lawyer claimed before the high court that the case was registered under the Gangster Act under another case in which the name of the petitioner was not disclosed. On November 29, the Supreme Court agreed to hear another petition challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Act and issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the petition seeking its response.
