UP Govt Turning Goonda Act Into Weapon of Harassment: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court quashed an order declaring Gonda resident Zahid Ali a 'goonda', saying the state government 'appears determined to use the stringent law as a tool of harassment'. The court found the externment order relied on a case in which Ali had already been acquitted.
The Allahabad High Court has quashed an order declaring a Gonda resident, Zahid Ali, a "goonda" and externing him from the district for six months, while coming down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for what it called a pattern of misusing the stringent law. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Lucknow bench observed that the cases coming before the court suggest the state government "appears determined to use the stringent law as a tool of harassment," adding that the Goonda Act is a "very powerful" legislation that must be invoked with great caution, only in clear cases and for maintaining public order.
Acquittal Used As Ground For Externment
The Gonda district magistrate had passed the externment order on May 11 under Section 3(1) of the Goonda Act, citing two criminal cases and a beat information report, Bar & Bench reported. One case dated back to 2010 and the other to 2020. The high court found that Ali had already been acquitted in the 2010 case by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gonda, on August 26, 2017, and held that a case ending in acquittal could not later be used as grounds to brand someone a goonda. The bench also flagged that the divisional commissioner, while hearing Ali's appeal, had wrongly treated the acquitted case as still pending against him, calling it a failure to properly exercise discretion. ‘Respect Individual Choice’: Supreme Court Slams Govt Over Plea Against Abortion for 15-Year-Old Rape Survivor.
No Link Between 2020 Case And 2026 Order, Court Says
The court noted a near six-year gap between the 2020 criminal case and the 2026 externment order, saying no rational nexus could be drawn between the two, and that a single 2020 case alone could not establish Ali as a habitual offender. No More ‘Someone Else’s Problem’: Supreme Court Issues Nationwide Orders on Waste Management.
Beat Report Rejected, Natural Justice Cited
The bench refused to accept the beat information report as valid grounds for invoking the Act, pointing out that no criminal case had ever been registered on its basis and that Ali was never given a hearing on it. Relying on such material, the court said, would violate principles of natural justice. It also took exception to the police report referencing the case Ali had already been acquitted in, saying this painted an incorrect picture of him before the district magistrate.
Holding that the orders of both the district magistrate and the divisional commissioner were legally unsustainable, the high court quashed them and allowed Ali's petition.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2026 08:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
