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.[1]
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"Goonda" probably comes from the Hindi-Urdu word guṇḍā (Hindi: गुण्डा, Urdu: گنڐا, "rascal").[1][2] There is also a Marathi word guṇḍā (गुंडा) with a similar meaning, attested as early as the 17th century, and possibly ultimately having Dravidian roots.[3] 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 as far as the 1930s comic strip character Alice the Goon.[1] A related term is "goonda-gardi", roughly meaning "bully-boy tactics".[4] Another is "goonda tax", referring to bribes or money extorted in a protection racket.[2]
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.[1][5]
Bangladesh'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:[6]
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.[6]
The Karnataka 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)".[7]
The Kerala 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".[8]
Madhya Pradesh 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".[9]
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).[10]
The Rajasthan Control of Goondas Act (Act No. 14 of 1975), in Section 2(b) defines who is a "goonda" for purposes of the Act.[11] Like the similar act in Uttar Pradesh, it provided that goondas may be ordered to leave the district ("externment") for up to six months.[11][12] However, the Rajasthan High Court struck down the externment provisions as unconstitutional in 2001.[12] 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.[11]
The Tamil Nadu 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)".[13] 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.[14]
The Uttar Pradesh 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.[15]