The Allahabad High Court has quashed the notice issued by the Additional Commissioner of Police, Commissionerate Agra under Section 3 of UP Control of Goondas Act, 1970, registered in the case of rape and assault at Etmadpur police station in Agra.
The Division Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Gajendra Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Sri Chand @ Sri Niwas @ Ram Niwas.
The petition has been filed by the petitioner with a prayer to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the show cause notice dated 15.05.2023 issued by respondent no 2-Additional Commissioner of Police, Commissionerate Agra under Section 3 of UP Control of Goondas Act, 1970, Police Station Atmadpur, Commissionerate Agra and for direction to the respondents not to adopt any coercive measure against the petitioner in pursuance of the impugned show cause notice.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the impugned show-cause notice has been issued against the petitioner only on the ground of his involvement in a solitary case being Case under Sections 376, 354, 323, 504, 511 IPC, Police Station Etmadpur, District Agra.
The petitioner has been falsely implicated in the aforesaid case crime and even in the said case, he has already been granted bail by learned Court below vide order dated 06.10.2021. The petitioner is neither a Gang Leader nor any Gang Member of any Gang.
The Court noted that,
It is contended that impugned notice is against the dictum of the Apex Court in Vijay Narayan Singh v State of Bihar & Ors, 1984 (3) SCC 14 and Imran alias Abdul Qudus Khan v State of U.P & Ors, 2000 (Suppl) ACC 171 (HC).
It is also submitted that similar controversy, assailing the validity of show cause notice only on the ground of involvement in solitary cases, has earlier been raised before this Court in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No.14013 of 2017 (Mahendra @ Pappu v. State of U.P. & Ors.) in which relying on the aforesaid judgments of the Apex Court the Coordinate Bench of this Court has allowed the writ petition and quashed the impugned show cause notice vide order dated 26.7.2017.
Reliance has also been placed on the judgment of Coordinate Bench of the Court dated 19.7.2017 in Criminal Misc Writ Petition No13572 of 2017 (Jayanath v. State of U.P. & Ors.) as well as the order dated 20.06.2018 passed by a coordinate Bench of the Court in Criminal Misc Writ Petition No 16051 of 2018 (Ranjeet Vs State of U.P and 2 others), where in the similar facts and circumstances on the solitary incident, the notice under Goondas Act has already been set aside and leave was accorded to the respondent to issue a fresh notice, if they got sufficient material against the petitioner, in case the proceedings may be started again in accordance with law in the light of the observations made in the body of the judgment after referring to that material in the fresh notice.
It is submitted that the petitioner is also entitled for similar indulgence.
So far as factual and legal aspects are concerned, the same could not be disputed by the AGA.
In the facts and circumstances of the case, the impugned notice cannot sustain and is hereby quashed by the High Court.
“However, the respondents will be at liberty to issue a fresh notice, if they have got sufficient material against the petitioner and in that case the proceedings may be started again in accordance with law in the light of the observations made in the body of the judgement after referring to that material in the fresh notice”, the Court ordered.