A Bench headed by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma froze the operation of the Division Bench judgment, which quashed the student’s nearly five-month detention as illegal.
| Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) stayed an Allahabad High Court direction to recover ₹5 lakh from the salary of Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam and other officials to compensate Delhi University student Akriti Chaudhary for detaining her under the National Security Act (NSA) over a workers’ protest in Noida in April this year.
A Bench headed by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma froze the operation of the Division Bench judgment, which quashed the student’s nearly five-month detention as illegal.
Appearing for Ms. Roopam, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that such decisions went through a multi-tiered process, including at the Central and State levels, and his client cannot be singled out for penalty. Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta, who is the Solicitor General of India, also appeared on the side of Ms. Roopam. Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves appeared for Ms. Chaudhary, the respondent in the case.
“After hearing senior counsels for the parties, this court is of the opinion that till the matter is heard on merits, the operation of the judgment, particularly paragraphs nos. 27 to 33, shall remain stayed,” the court ordered, listing the case for October 7.
The seven paragraphs highlighted by the Supreme Court from the High Court decision against Ms. Roopam had cautioned that the continued “despotic” conduct of an errant bureaucracy could reduce Uttar Pradesh to an “Orwellian Dystopia”.
The High Court had criticised Ms. Roopam’s lack of application of mind to a police report against the student activist. It had allowed Ms. Chaudhary’s habeas corpus petition and ordered her immediate release, unless she was required in another case. The High Court had flagged discrepancies in the arrest notice and termed the State’s version a “concocted story”.
Ms. Chaudhary was among several activists arrested in connection with the protest held between April 10 and 18, during which industrial and contractual workers demanded a hike and parity with wages paid in neighbouring Haryana. The protest had turned violent on April 13.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had invoked the NSA against Ms. Chaudhary a month later, alleging that she had instigated protesters to engage in stone-pelting and arson. During a press conference, the police claimed to have “strong electronic and videographic evidence” against her.
The High Court had said the District Magistrate, by invoking the oppressive provisions of the NSA against a student activist without any previous criminal record, was setting an “example of her and deter others from exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression in public spaces in support of the labourers”.
“The District Magistrate Gautam Buddha Nagar is guilty of violating her oath of allegiance,” the High Court had observed in its decision.
Published – September 23, 2026 11:49 pm IST
