‘Tool of oppression’: Allahabad HC pulls up UP bureaucracy over Goondas Act

• Allahabad High Court says Uttar Pradesh's Goondas Act is being used as a 'tool of oppression' despite repeated rulings against arbitrary proceedings.

• Court quashes proceedings against Abhishek Tyagi, noting a three-year gap between two criminal cases did not establish that he was a habitual offender.

• It awards Tyagi Rs 50,000 in damages and warns bureaucrats they could face punitive damages, recoverable from their salaries, for illegal orders.

The Allahabad High Court has warned Uttar Pradesh bureaucrats against using the state's Goondas Act as a tool of oppression, saying officials could face punitive damages if they continue issuing illegal and arbitrary orders.

The court also awarded Rs 50,000 in damages to petitioner Abhishek Tyagi, against whom proceedings had been initiated under the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act, 1970. It said the state government would be at liberty to recover the damages from the salaries of the bureaucrats concerned.

Justice Sandeep Jain, in an order dated 10 September, allowed Tyagi's petition challenging the proceedings and quashed orders passed by the additional commissioner of police, Ghaziabad, and the commissioner, Meerut Division.

Proceedings against Tyagi were initiated on the basis of two criminal cases. In an order dated 18 September 2025, the ACP, Ghaziabad, had directed him to reside at his permanent address and mark his attendance at the police station concerned on every second and fourth Saturday for six months.

Tyagi's appeal against the order was subsequently dismissed by the commissioner, Meerut Division, on 10 December 2025.

The high court noted that it had consistently held that a person could not be branded a 'goonda' merely on the basis of one or two criminal cases. However, it said the bureaucracy had "deliberately not noticed this" and continued to pass orders contrary to the court's rulings.

"Moreover, there is a gap of 3 years in the occurrence of the two criminal cases which shows that he is not a habitual offender," the court observed.

"It is apparent that the Act of 1970 is being used as a tool of oppression by the bureaucracy and the State which is contrary to the objects of the Act of 1970," it said.

The court said the time had come to send a strong message to the bureaucracy to stop such conduct or face punitive damages.

The court's warning comes as part of its scrutiny of the manner in which preventive proceedings under the Goondas Act are being initiated against individuals, particularly where the material on record does not establish habitual criminal conduct.

With PTI inputs