On Wednesday, Allahabad High Court has expressed concern over the misuse of the Uttar Pradesh Goonda Act. The state government has been instructed to issue directives for uniform compliance by all district magistrates in enforcement by October 31st.

This order has been issued by the division bench of Justices Rahul Chaturvedi and Mohammad Ajhar Husain Idreesi of the Allahabad High Court while accepting the petition of Govardhan, a resident of Aligarh. The court has stated that there is no uniformity in action taken under the Uttar Pradesh Goonda Control Act.

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that the Goonda Act notice should be issued to habitual offenders who pose a danger to public peace. Action under the Goonda Act cannot be taken based on just one criminal case. This act includes provisions for restraining individuals from residing within city limits.

Further, the court directed the authorities to send copies of this order to all executive officers in the state. Additionally, the notices issued under the Goonda Act against the petitioner have been canceled by the FDM (Finance and Revenue) on behalf of the government.

The court mentioned that normally, reasons are not provided for notices. In reality, action under the Goonda Act is being taken extensively and inappropriately. District magistrates are given extraordinary and unusual powers under this law, and they should exercise great caution before using these powers. However, the provisions are being misused on a large scale.

Officials are using these extraordinary powers with their own whims and fancies, issuing notices based on individual cases or a few police reports. This is making the preventive law equivalent to a tool of harassment.

The court observed that when one case was wrongly labeled as a Goonda Act case, the government advocate suddenly mentioned that there are two or three other cases as well that were not included in the notice. The court commented that hide and seek cannot be allowed, just like not telling one hand what the other is doing. Such an order should be revoked.

This verdict addresses concerns about the misuse of the Goonda Act in Uttar Pradesh and emphasizes the need for careful consideration and proper application of the law to protect individuals' rights.