UP to challenge Allahabad HC order making DM pay ₹5 lakh for student’s detention
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the court would seek an explanation from the concerned magistrate -- “executive or district or both”, over the action against the student
The Uttar Pradesh government announced on Wednesday its intention to contest the Allahabad High Court's ruling that ordered the district magistrate to pay ₹5 lakh in compensation to a law student, Akriti Chaudhary, for her unlawful preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA). Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the submission before the Supreme Court, clarifying that the preventive notice issued to a second-year law student, Akshat Tripathi, was issued by an executive magistrate and not the district magistrate.
The Allahabad High Court had recently upheld Chaudhary's case, ordering the compensation to be paid by Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Medha Roopam, a move that the government is challenging. The High Court's decision to impose a monetary liability on Roopam and record its displeasure in her service records was met with strong criticism from the court, which described the district magistrate's conduct as "worthy of derision" and deemed the procedure as "ex post facto the arrest and nothing more than a sham".
The court also found that the notice to Chaudhary appeared to have been prepared after her arrest, labeling it as a sham and a violation of her right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
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