Reiterating the basics of criminalisation

F or four decades, the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 dealt with gangsters and anti-social activities in the State. However, on August 20, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Shiv Pratap Singh vs. State of U.P. and Himanshu Srivastava vs. State of U.P. ruled: “the U.P. Act is still-born and the proceedings under it cannot survive”. The reasons for arriving at this harsh conclusion were spelled out by Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran thus: “A gangster is defined under the Act and the determination of who a gangster is, for the purpose of punishment, is as prescribed in the Rules, left to the ipse dixit of the Executive.