PRAYAGRAJ, Dec. 7 -- The Allahabad high court has dismissed an appeal filed by former MP Dhananjay Singh against the acquittal of the accused in the 2002 Nadesar Taksal shootout case of Varanasi registered under the Gangsters Act. The court, in its judgment dated December 4, stated that crimes registered under the Gangsters Act are against the state and society, and therefore, individual complainants do not have the right to file an appeal. Justice Laxmikant Shukla found Dhananjay Singh's appeal inadmissible, stating that the state alone has the right and responsibility to prevent anti-social activities. No individual can be given the right to interfere in the state's jurisdiction, the court said. This incident dates back to October 4, 2002, when indiscriminate firing occurred on the vehicle of then MLA Dhananjay Singh in the Nadesar area of Varanasi. Several people were injured in the incident. Police invoked the Gangsters Act in the case and took action against several accused. On August 29, 2025, the special judge for the Gangsters Act in Varanasi acquitted four accused due to lack of evidence. Dhananjay Singh challenged this order in the high court. Dhananjay Singh's plea was that he was both the victim and the complainant in the case, and therefore, he should be considered a "victim" and be granted the right to appeal. The court said, "It is true that the proposed appellant is the informant in Case Crime No. 546 of 2002 which forms part of the gang chart as one of the cases registered against the accused persons along with other criminal cases. So, the appellant is indeed a victim in Case Crime No. 546 of 2002 directly." "If there is an acquittal or imposition of lesser punishment in that case, he may certainly file an appeal as a victim defined under Section 2(wa) of Cr.P.C. but the offence under the Gangster Act is the offence exclusively against the State and the society not against an individual.The offences related to Case Crime No. 546 of 2002 are separate offences than the present one," the court added.HTC...