MCOCA Can Be Invoked Against Syndicate Members Even Without Prior FIRs: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) can be invoked against an accused alleged to be a member of an organised crime syndicate even if there are no prior FIRs or charge-sheets against such accused in her individual capacity.Justice Sanjeev Narula observed,“the statutory requirement of “more than one charge-sheet” in the preceding ten years…attaches to the organised crime syndicate and not to each individual alleged to be a member.”The bench made the observation while dismissing a criminal appeal filed by a woman-accused, seeking bail under MCOCA in a drugs-related case.Rejecting the Appellant's contention that the absence of prior criminal antecedents or earlier charge-sheets against her barred the invocation of MCOCA, the Court held that the statutory requirement of “continuing unlawful activity” under Section 2(1)(d) of MCOCA attaches to the organised crime syndicate and not to each individual member thereof.Reliance was placed on Zakir Abdul Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra (2023) where the Supreme Court noted that approval for invoking MCOCA “need not name every accused person at the outset”, as the statute targets organised crime carried out by a syndicate and individual roles may emerge during investigation.The Court observed that although no prior FIR was registered against the Appellant personally, the prosecution had placed material on record to prima facie indicate her active role as a member of a family-run drug syndicate.At the bail stage, the Court held, it was not permissible to undertake a detailed examination of whether earlier charge-sheets explicitly referred to the existence of an organised crime syndicate.“At this stage, the inquiry is narrower. Unless the invocation is shown to be ex facie barred, a detailed evaluation of the adequacy of predicate cases would inevitably drift into a mini-trial. The multiple prior cases attributed to the projected syndicate within the statutory window satisfies the threshold for the limited purpose of deciding bail,” it said.Finally holding that the Appellant failed to meet the twin conditions for bail under Section 21(4) of MCOCA, the Court dismissed her appeal.Appearance: Mr. Kundan Kumar, Mr. Madan Kumar Jha, Mr. Pranshu Kumar, Ms. Mahima Choudhary, Advocates for Appellant; Mr. Aman Usman, APP for State.Case title: Anuradha @ Chiku v. State (Nct Of Delhi)Case no.: CRL.A. 1543/2025Click here to read order

MCOCA Can Be Invoked Against Syndicate Members Even Without Prior FIRs: Delhi High Court

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