The Allahabad High Court has sharply criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for allegedly misusing the Goonda Act, describing the legislation as “very powerful” and urging it be applied only in clear cases that maintain public order.
In a case involving a man named Zahid Ali, the Lucknow Bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi quashed an order by the Gonda district magistrate that had declared Ali a “goonda” and ordered his removal from the district for six months. The magistrate’s decision, issued on May 11 under Section 3(1) of the Act, relied on two criminal cases—one from 2010 and another from 2020—and a beat information report. The court also set aside an appellate order by the divisional commissioner that had upheld the magistrate’s decision.
The High Court found that Ali had already been acquitted in the 2010 case by the Chief Judicial Magistrate on August 26, 2017, and that a previously acquitted case could not serve as grounds for a new declaration. It noted a six‑year gap between the 2020 criminal case and the 2026 order, finding no rational nexus. The court rejected the beat information report as a valid basis, stating that no criminal case had been registered on that information and that Ali had not been given an opportunity to be heard, thereby violating natural justice.
The court concluded that the orders by both the district magistrate and the commissioner were legally unsustainable and quashed them, allowing Ali’s petition to proceed.
