Goonda
Encyclopedia
Goonda is a term in Indian English
, Pakistani English
, and Bangladeshi English for a hired thug. It is not merely a colloquial term but is also defined and used in various laws, generally referred to as Goonda Acts.
word guṇḍā with a similar meaning, attested as early as the 17th century, and possibly ultimately having Dravidian
roots. Another theory suggests that it originates from the English word "goon". However, the first English-language appearance of "goonda" (in British newspapers of the 1920s, with the spelling "goondah") predates the use of "goon" to mean criminal, a semantic change
which seems to go back only only as far as the 1930s comic strip character Alice the Goon
. A related term is "goonda-gardi", roughly meaning "bully-boy tactics". Another is "goonda tax", referring to bribes or money extorted in a protection racket
.
's Control of Disorderly and Dangerous Persons (Goondas) Act (East Bengal Act IV of 1954), Section 13(1), gives seven grounds under which a tribunal may declare a person to be a goonda and place him on the prescribed list of goondas:
Section 13(2) additionally establishes the category of "dangerous goonda", giving more than twenty further grounds on which a tribunal may declare a person to be a dangerous goonda, mostly related to violence, prostitution, and forgery, or offences committed by a person previously declared a goonda under the Act. Per Section 14, goondas may be required to post a bond, and may be restricted from entering gambling houses; dangerous goondas may have much broader restrictions placed on their freedom of movement, and per Section 18 also may have enhanced punishment imposed on them for future offences.
Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum-Grabbers Act (Act 12 of 1985), as amended by Act 16 of 2001, in Section 2(g) states "goonda means a person who either by himself or as a member of or leader of a gang, habitually commits or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offences punishable under Chapter VIII, Chapter XV, Chapter XVI, Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860)".
Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (Act 34 of 2007), Section 2(j), states "goonda means a person who indulges in any anti-social activity or promotes or abets any illegal activity which are harmful for the maintenance of the public order directly or indirectly and includes a bootlegger, a counterfeiter, a depredator of environment, a digital data and copy right pirate, a drug offender, a hawala racketeer, a hired ruffian, rowdy, an immoral traffic offender, a loan shark or a property grabber".
once had a goonda act in force, known as the Central Provinces and Berar
Goondas Act (Act X of 1946), amended by Act XLIX of 1950. However it was struck down in 1960 in the Supreme Court of India
case State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Baldeo Prasad. The court held that "the definition of a goonda laid down by the Act, which is of an inclusive character, indicated no tests for deciding whether the person fell within the first part of the definition".
Control of Goondas Act (Act No. 14 of 1975), in Section 2(b) defines who is a "goonda" for purposes of the Act. Like the similar act in Uttar Pradesh, it provided that goondas may be ordered to leave the district ("externment") for up to six months. However, the Rajasthan High Court
struck down the externment provisions as unconstitutional in 2001. In particular, the Court pointed out that a person imprisoned had to be provided with a residential accommodation and subsistence at the expense of the state government, whereas the Control of Goondas Act made no provision for a goonda under externment to be provided with residential accommodation, putting him in a comparatively worse situation than a prisoner; this was held to violate the right to life
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India
.
Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Forest-offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-grabbers and Video Pirates Act (Tamil Nadu Act 14 of 1982; "Video Pirates" was added by Act 32 of 2004), Section 2(f) states "goonda means a person, who either by himself or as a member of or leader of a gang habitually commits, or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offence, punishable under Chapter XVI or Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860)". According to a 2011 ruling of the Madras High Court, even a single offense under the Act permits detention of a person as a goonda.
Control of Goondas Act (U.P. Act No. 8 of 1971, amended by U.P. Act No. 1 of 1985) Section 2(b) defines a goonda as a person who:
Section 3 gives the district magistrate the power to order a goonda in writing to remove himself from a jurisdiction, or to report his movements, for periods of up to six months.
Indian English
Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...
, Pakistani English
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is the term used to describe the English language as spoken in Pakistan. Pakistani English is slightly different in respect to accent and spellings of some words.-History:...
, and Bangladeshi English for a hired thug. It is not merely a colloquial term but is also defined and used in various laws, generally referred to as Goonda Acts.
Etymology
"Goonda" probably comes from the Hindi-Urdu word guṇḍā . There is also a MarathiMarathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
word guṇḍā with a similar meaning, attested as early as the 17th century, and possibly ultimately having Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
roots. Another theory suggests that it originates from the English word "goon". However, the first English-language appearance of "goonda" (in British newspapers of the 1920s, with the spelling "goondah") predates the use of "goon" to mean criminal, a semantic change
Semantic change
Semantic change, also known as semantic shift or semantic progression describes the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word...
which seems to go back only only as far as the 1930s comic strip character Alice the Goon
Alice the Goon
Alice the Goon is a fictional character in E. C. Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre and in the Popeye cartoon series derived from it.-History:...
. A related term is "goonda-gardi", roughly meaning "bully-boy tactics". Another is "goonda tax", referring to bribes or money extorted in a protection racket
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
.
Definitions
Many legislative bodies have passed "Goonda Acts" (a colloquial name, due to the long titles) providing legal definitions of who constitutes a "goonda". Some of these laws permit harsh treatment such as giving the police the power to shoot them on sight.Bangladesh
BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
's Control of Disorderly and Dangerous Persons (Goondas) Act (East Bengal Act IV of 1954), Section 13(1), gives seven grounds under which a tribunal may declare a person to be a goonda and place him on the prescribed list of goondas:
- frequents for immoral purposes houses or localities inhabited by prostitutes; or
- frequents resorts of vice such as drinking or gambling dens, or places where opium or other intoxicating drugs are smoked or otherwise consumed; or
- generally appears in public while drunk; or
- is addicted to smoking opium; or
- uses obscene or abusive language in public; or
- makes fraudulent collection in the name of charity;
- is involved in affray, rowdism or acts of intimidation or violence in any place private or public so as to cause alarm to the people living or frequenting the neighbourhood
Section 13(2) additionally establishes the category of "dangerous goonda", giving more than twenty further grounds on which a tribunal may declare a person to be a dangerous goonda, mostly related to violence, prostitution, and forgery, or offences committed by a person previously declared a goonda under the Act. Per Section 14, goondas may be required to post a bond, and may be restricted from entering gambling houses; dangerous goondas may have much broader restrictions placed on their freedom of movement, and per Section 18 also may have enhanced punishment imposed on them for future offences.
Karnataka, India
The KarnatakaKarnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum-Grabbers Act (Act 12 of 1985), as amended by Act 16 of 2001, in Section 2(g) states "goonda means a person who either by himself or as a member of or leader of a gang, habitually commits or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offences punishable under Chapter VIII, Chapter XV, Chapter XVI, Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860)".
Kerala, India
The KeralaKerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (Act 34 of 2007), Section 2(j), states "goonda means a person who indulges in any anti-social activity or promotes or abets any illegal activity which are harmful for the maintenance of the public order directly or indirectly and includes a bootlegger, a counterfeiter, a depredator of environment, a digital data and copy right pirate, a drug offender, a hawala racketeer, a hired ruffian, rowdy, an immoral traffic offender, a loan shark or a property grabber".
Madhya Pradesh, India
Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
once had a goonda act in force, known as the Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
Goondas Act (Act X of 1946), amended by Act XLIX of 1950. However it was struck down in 1960 in the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
case State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Baldeo Prasad. The court held that "the definition of a goonda laid down by the Act, which is of an inclusive character, indicated no tests for deciding whether the person fell within the first part of the definition".
Punjab, Pakistan
The Punjab Control of Goondas Ordinance (W.P. Ordinance XXXV of 1959), Section 13, establishes a long list of more than twenty offences (mostly related to violence, public drunkenness, sexual crimes, and habitual counterfeiting or smuggling) under which a tribunal may declare a person a "goonda" and place his name on the prescribed list of goondas, after which he may be subject to enhanced punishment for any future offenses. It overrode the earlier Punjab Control of Goondas Act (Act XIV of 1951).Rajasthan, India
The RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
Control of Goondas Act (Act No. 14 of 1975), in Section 2(b) defines who is a "goonda" for purposes of the Act. Like the similar act in Uttar Pradesh, it provided that goondas may be ordered to leave the district ("externment") for up to six months. However, the Rajasthan High Court
Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court is the High Court of the state of Rajasthan. It was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949.The seat of the court is at Jodhpur...
struck down the externment provisions as unconstitutional in 2001. In particular, the Court pointed out that a person imprisoned had to be provided with a residential accommodation and subsistence at the expense of the state government, whereas the Control of Goondas Act made no provision for a goonda under externment to be provided with residential accommodation, putting him in a comparatively worse situation than a prisoner; this was held to violate the right to life
Right to life
Right to life is a phrase that describes the belief that a human being has an essential right to live, particularly that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being...
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
.
Tamil Nadu, India
The Tamil NaduTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Forest-offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-grabbers and Video Pirates Act (Tamil Nadu Act 14 of 1982; "Video Pirates" was added by Act 32 of 2004), Section 2(f) states "goonda means a person, who either by himself or as a member of or leader of a gang habitually commits, or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offence, punishable under Chapter XVI or Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860)". According to a 2011 ruling of the Madras High Court, even a single offense under the Act permits detention of a person as a goonda.
Uttar Pradesh, India
The Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
Control of Goondas Act (U.P. Act No. 8 of 1971, amended by U.P. Act No. 1 of 1985) Section 2(b) defines a goonda as a person who:
- either by himself or as a member or leader of a gang, habitually commits or attempts to commit, or abets the commission of a offence punishable under Section 153 or Section 153-B or Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code or Chapter XV, Chapter XVI, Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the said Code; or
- has been convicted for an offence punishable under the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956; or
- has been convicted not less than thrice for an offence punishable under the U.P. Excise Act, 1910 or the Public Gambling Act, 1867 or Section 25, Section 27 or Section 29 of the Arms Act, 1959; or
- is generally reputed to be a person who is desperate and dangerous to the community; or
- has been habitually passing indecent remarks or teasing women or girls; or
- is a tout; or
- is a house-grabber.
Section 3 gives the district magistrate the power to order a goonda in writing to remove himself from a jurisdiction, or to report his movements, for periods of up to six months.