india ⚖️ UP government using Goonda Act for oppression, says HC
The Allahabad High Court stated that the Uttar Pradesh government kept using the Goonda Act as a 'tool of oppression' despite judicial warnings. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi heard a petition from Zahid Ali challenging a Gonda district magistrate's order. This order, declaring him a 'goonda' under the 1970 Act and forcing him out for six months, was set aside. The court emphasized the Act should only be used sparingly for public disorder, not to oppress innocent people. The bench noted Ali was acquitted in one of the two cited police cases and posed no threat.