The Supreme Court clarified that its interim stay in the Akriti Chaudhary NSA case applies only to the strictures and compensation order against Noida DM Medha Roopam, not to quashing her detention.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a revised order clarifying the scope of its earlier interim stay in the case concerning the National Security Act (NSA) detention of Delhi University history graduate Akriti Chaudhary, confirming that the quashing of her detention remains in effect.
Chaudhary, a 25-year-old history graduate, was taken into custody on April 11, days before a workers’ protest in Noida escalated into violence over wage demands. The Uttar Pradesh Police subsequently invoked the NSA against her and activist-journalist Satya Verma on May 13.
On September 2, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court comprising Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev quashed Chaudhary’s detention, holding that it violated her fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench observed that the detention order had been passed “without application of mind” and lacked supporting material. It further directed Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam, along with other responsible officers down to the level of the Station House Officer, to pay Chaudhary ₹5 lakh in compensation from their personal salaries.
The State of Uttar Pradesh and the District Magistrate subsequently approached the Supreme Court. On September 23, a bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and NK Singh, hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the DM and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for the State, passed an interim order in chambers staying the operation of the High Court’s judgment. The phrasing of the order gave rise to an interpretation that the stay extended to the quashing of Chaudhary’s detention itself.
In its revised order issued the day after, the Court clarified that the stay was confined to paragraphs 27 to 33 of the High Court’s judgment — the sections containing the strictures against the District Magistrate and the compensation directive. Paragraph 25, which quashed the NSA detention, was expressly excluded from the stay. The matter will now proceed to a hearing on the merits.
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Kaustubh Dwivedi