'Harassment Of Innocents A Great Sin': Allahabad HC Cites Rigveda, Bible & Quran, Slams Govt Officials For Preparing Defective Gang Charts

In a significant order, the Allahabad High Court today invoked the Rigveda, the Bible, and the Quran to emphasise the prohibition of harassment and oppression of innocent individuals, underscoring that such actions are a great sin. This statement came as the Court sharply criticised the Uttar Pradesh Government officials for invoking the Gangsters Act in several cases without following due procedure.#JustIN | 'Harassment of innocent persons is a great sin': Allahabad High Court cites #Rigveda, #Bible and #Quran while slamming UP Government (@UPGovt) officials over invoking the Gangsters Act without following the due procedure. pic.twitter.com/6ANjplcFSy— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 26, 2024 A bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal noted in many cases it had been found that the competent authorities under the Gangsters Act were not following the procedure prescribed by the U.P. Gangsters and Antisocial Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021, in preparing a gang chart, which is the first stage of invoking the Gangsters Act upon criminal(s). The Court added that while all State officers cannot be blamed, it was true that many of them are invoking the Gangsters Act without following the due procedure laid down by the 2021 rules. In this regard, while considering the mandate of the 2021 rules, the Court stressed that its basic purpose was to ensure that no innocent person was falsely implicated in the Gangsters Act by providing a check and balance on the police and administrative officers. “This Court is of the view that the object of procedural Rules, framed under the Gangsters Act as well as in other criminal laws, must be tested on the old saying that 99 accused may be acquitted, but one innocent person should not be punished,” the court fnoted. Further, the Court cited the Rigveda, the Bible and the Quran to note that all religious texts prohibit harassment and oppression of innocent people. From Rigveda, the Court cited Mandal-1, Sukta-5th, Varg-10th (1.5.10) of the Rigveda (interpretation by Swami Dayanand Saraswati), the English translation of which has been quoted below: “Indra, who are the object of praises, let no men do injury to our persons; you are mighty, keep off violence.” From the Bible, the Court quoted from Exodus 23:7, which reads thus: “Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” From the Quran, the Court quoted from Surah Al-Ma'edah (Surah-5), Ayat 32. The English translation of the same reads thus: “Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” The Court also underscored that our legal system also prescribes several procedures to protect innocent persons and punish the guilty. The bench also referred to the address of Dr B.R. Ambedkar before the enforcement of the Constitution of India to the final constituent assembly, said, “However good the constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad”. Against this backdrop, the Court opined that providing law and procedure for its implementation may not result as desired if the persons who are implementing the same have mala fide intentions or do not respect the law and its procedure In its 21-page order, the Court noted that considering the laxity of some State officers in preparing the gang chart against the well-established procedure laid down by the State Government, several Benches of the High Court have issued directions for preparing the gang chart and invoking the Gangsters Act. The division bench referred to the High Court's recent rulings, wherein it was directed to the State Government officials that at the time of preparing the gang chart, the date of filing of the charge sheet ought to be mentioned in column 6 of the gang chart and the competent authorities must record their required satisfaction by writing in clear words and not by signing a pre-typed satisfaction. Importantly, it was also directed that before approving the gang chart, the District Magistrate/Commissioner of Police should conduct a joint meeting with the District Police Chiefs to discuss material available for invoking the Gangsters Act. The Court noted that while specific directions were given to all the District Magistrates and District Police Chiefs to record their required satisfaction in the gang chart instead of signing a pre-typed satisfaction, some of the officers were still not following the procedure and were preparing defective...

'Harassment Of Innocents A Great Sin': Allahabad HC Cites Rigveda, Bible & Quran, Slams Govt Officials For Preparing Defective Gang Charts

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