Court No. - 40
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 3884 of 2021 Petitioner :- Shivbodh Mishra @ Shibu Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashwani Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J.
Hon'ble Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner; learned A.G.A. for the respondents 1 and 2; and perused the record.
The instant petition seeks quashing of the first information report dated 17.04.2021 registered as Case Crime No.69 of 2021, under Section 2/3 of U.P. Gangster & Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, P.S. Mahewa Ghat, District Kaushambi.
The allegation in the impugned first information report is in respect of constitution of a gang indulging in inter-state trafficking of Ganja. It is alleged that the gang members are trafficking Ganja from Madhya Pradesh for sale in Kaushambi. A past case, namely, Case Crime No.177 of 2020 has been cited in which one quintal and 70 Kg of Ganja was recovered wherein the petitioner was one of the accused.
The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that on the basis of a solitary case, the petitioner cannot be treated as member of a gang more so when he has been granted bail in that case.
Be that as it may, it is not the requirement of law that before registration of a first information report under the Gangsters Act there should be multiple cases registered against the persons concerned. If there exist material to infer existence of a gang indulging in specified anti-social activities, an FIR under the Gangsters Act can be lodged. As the allegations made are that the accused persons have constituted a gang to indulge in inter- state trafficking of Ganja, the matter would have to be investigated, therefore the prayer of the petitioner to quash the first information report cannot be accepted, at this stage.
The petition is dismissed without prejudice to the right of the petitioner to apply for bail.
Order Date :- 27.5.2021 AKShukla/-
Digitally signed by Justice Manoj Misra Date: 2021.05.28 13:51:59 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Digitally signed by SYED AFTAB HUSAIN RIZVI Date: 2021.05.28 13:54:36 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad