Prayagraj, 6 December (Daily Kiran) – Former MP and strongman Dhananjay Singh from Jaunpur suffered a major setback as the Allahabad High Court dismissed his appeal against the trial court’s decision in a 23-year-old case.
The single bench of Justice Laxmikant Shukla rejected Dhananjay Singh’s criminal appeal after hearing all parties. The case relates to a gangsters act charge filed following a deadly attack in Varanasi in 2002.
The court observed that in cases under the Gangsters Act, appeals by individual complainants as ‘victims’ are not maintainable. Based on this, the High Court dismissed Singh’s appeal.
Commenting strongly on the open shootout incident, the court clarified that offenses under the Gangsters Act are crimes against the state and society, not individual matters. Referring to the notorious Nadesar Taksal shootout in Varanasi, the court emphasized that preventing antisocial activities is the state’s responsibility and no individual can usurp this role.
Earlier, on 29 August 2025, the trial court had acquitted accused Sadeep Singh, Sanjay Singh, Vinod Singh, and Satendra Singh alias Bablu in the Gangsters Act case. Dissatisfied with this verdict, Dhananjay Singh challenged it in the High Court.
Singh’s lawyers claimed he was also a victim since he was attacked. However, after considering all submissions, the court held that the Gangsters Act does not recognize individual complainants as victims in such appeals, leading to the rejection of Singh’s plea.
The incident took place in October 2002 near Taksal Cinema Hall in Nadesar, Cantt police station area of Varanasi. At that time, Dhananjay Singh, then an MLA, was targeted with indiscriminate firing using automatic weapons like AK-47s. This was regarded as Varanasi’s first open shootout. Singh narrowly escaped death.
Following the attack, FIRs were lodged by Singh against former MLA Abhay Singh, MLC Vineet Singh, and others. Subsequently, FIRs under the Gangsters Act were also registered.
(Daily Kiran) / Ramanand Pandey
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