Reminding the UP Home Department that “selective investigation” and “selective prosecution” are antithetical to the rule of law, the Allahabad High Court has flagged frequent misuse of powers by police while invoking stringent provisions of the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against “petty offenders”, saying “actual gangsters and organised crime syndicates” involved in narcotics trade, financial frauds, land mafia activities, remain largely unaffected by a lack of systemic policy response.
While hearing a petition filed by one Rajendra Tyagi and two others challenging the Gangsters Act cases against them, the single bench of Justice Vinod Diwakar on Novermber 27 also directed the UP government to file an affidavit to substantiate its claim that introduction of the Commissionerate system has caused a decrease in the crime rate in the districts where the system has been implemented as compared to those districts where the Commissionerate system has not been adopted.
There are seven police Commissionerates in Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Agra, Ghaziabad, and Prayagraj. The commissionerate system was first introduced in Lucknow and Gautam Buddha Nagar in January 2020, followed by Kanpur Nagar and Varanasi in March 2021, and later expanded to Agra, Ghaziabad, and Prayagraj in November 2022.
In their petitions, Rajendra Tyagi and two others challenged the pressing of Gangster Act charges against them without the District Magistrate’s approval of the “gang chart”, saying it was in contravention of the Gangsters Act.
However, during the hearing, the government counsel submitted that the Police Commissioner carries the power of DM in the Commissionerate system in matters concerning the Gangsters Act.
The High Court questioned the government’s justification, and observed that DM was the head of the criminal administration of the district and occupies the pre-eminent position in taking a decision in matters concerning actions against organised criminals.
However, in the Police Commissionerate system, the Commissioner is the head of the criminal administration in the district and functions as the head of the ‘Executive Magistracy’ in the districts and supervises the preventive proceedings under the CrPC sections that earlier used to be invoked by the district magistrate, the High Court stated.
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Directing the state Home Department to submit empirical data to substantiate its claim that the crime rate has decreased in districts where the Commissionerate system has been implemented, the High Court also asked the government to furnish details of any comparative analysis or study conducted by the Home Department to justify adopting the Police Commissionerate system in some districts.
“The Director General of Police (Prosecution) shall furnish comprehensive district-wise data in respect of cases under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act for the last 10 years by way of a separate affidavit, including: (i) number of cases registered; (ii) number of charge-sheets filed; (iii) number of convictions secured; and (iv) number of acquittals of charge-sheeted accused(s), with a comparative analysis vis-à-vis the non-Commissionerate district(s),” the order read.
“The report shall also disclose the systemic reforms and policy decision(s), if any, taken by the Home Department to improve police working, so far as the approval of the gang-chart is concerned,” it added.
The court has also sought names and number of officers of SSP, SP, DCP and above rank officer in police, and Joint Director (Prosecution) and DGC (district government counsel) in prosecution department against whom disciplinary or administrative action has been taken during the last 10 years for acts of corruption, inefficiency, negligence, procedural lapses, misuse of power, or violation of guidelines in Gangsters Act cases.
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“This information is being sought in view of the fact that both the Supreme Court and this Court have consistently encountered cases revealing gross misuse of police powers, particularly in relation to the indiscriminate approval of gang-charts and the initiation of proceedings under the Gangsters Act,” the High Court said.
“It has been observed that criminal trials against individuals, say for illustration, with two or more than two dozen FIRs have made no substantial progress even after two to three decades of the filing of a chargesheet. Bail conditions are routinely flouted by gangsters and resourceful persons engaged in organized crime, as the JD (Prosecution) and the DGCs are not effectively discharging their duties to secure their presence before the Court on every date,” the High Court said, adding that there is no programme of the State Government to fix the accountability on the police except old fashioned departmental inquiries, often initiated against Inspector and below rank officers.
In an earlier affidavit, filed by the Principal Secretary, Home Department, it had referred to the government’s November 2022 notification in which SSP and District Magistrate were replaced by Commissioner of Police (CP) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in districts with the Police Commissionerate system having a population of more than 10 lakh.
The affidavit had stated that Police Commissionerates have predominantly been established in metropolitan cities of Uttar Pradesh, where the nature and volume of urban crime are different vis-à-vis their rural counterparts.
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Justifying that minimising the administrative layer of the DM ensures that law enforcement agencies can rapidly dismantle fast-moving criminal networks without bureaucratic latency, the Home Department stated that since urban policing requires technical expertise in areas like economic offences and digital forensics capabilities housed within the police force rather than the revenue administrations, direct police oversight ensures more effective enforcement against modern gangsterism.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for December 9.
