THE MINISTRY of Home Affairs (MHA), in August this year, renewed an order restricting the movement of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged at Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, for another year.
A senior prison officer, who did not wish to be named, confirmed to The Indian Express on Wednesday that the MHA renewed the restriction order against Lawrence Bishnoi under BNSS section 303. The officer added that court appearances, if any, were taking place through video-conferencing.
The restriction order, issued for the third consecutive year, once under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and twice under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), means that Lawrence cannot be moved out of the Gujarat prison till this order is in effect.
Even as Anmol Bishnoi, who was extradited from the US and reached India on Wednesday, was placed under arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the alleged leader of the gang – Lawrence – has remained in the jail in Gujarat for more than two-and-a half years now.
Lawrence came back into the limelight after his brother Anmol was refused asylum in the US. Anmol, who fled India in 2022, is the 19th accused to be arrested by the NIA for alleged involvement in the terror syndicate led by Lawrence and is also wanted by the Maharashtra Police for conspiracy in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique on October 12, 2024. Anmol was deported to India on Wednesday.
Lawrence, alleged to be the head of a vast criminal enterprise spanning several countries, and booked in two dozen odd cases, has, by order of the union home ministry, been restricted to the premises of the prison in Ahmedabad for the past two years, since August 2023, which means that even investigation agencies and state police, if they want to question him, must do so at Sabarmati Central Jail.
Bishnoi in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail
Lawrence has been lodged at the Sabarmati prison since May 10, 2023, and has spent two years and seven months there as of November 10, 2025.
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Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in a case investigated by the NIA, was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in April 2023, in relation with the seizure of 38.994 kg heroin worth Rs 194.97 crore off the Jakhau Coast of Kutch, on September 14, 2022.
After 14 days of police remand granted by a Kutch court, Bishnoi was sent to the Sabarmati Central jail on May 10, 2023, after his police remand ended.
Then, in August 2023, the MHA issued an order under section 268 of the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC) against Bishnoi. This states, “The state government may, at any time, having regard to the matters specified in sub-Section (2), by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained, and thereupon so long as the order remains in force, no order made under Section 267, whether before or after the order of the State Government, shall have effect in respect of such person or class of persons.”
This order expired in August 2024, after which, the MHA, issued another order, this time under section 303 of the BNSS, as the three new criminal laws had come into effect earlier in July 2024. This order was valid for a period of one year, till August 2025.
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Section 303 of the BNSS, under which the MHA renewed the restriction order against Lawrence this year, states, “303. (1) The State Government or the Central Government, as the case may be, may, at any time, having regard to the matters specified in sub-section (2), by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained, and thereupon, so long as the order remains in force, no order made under section 302, whether before or after the order of the State Government, shall have effect in respect of such person or class of persons.”
