Supreme Court Stays Allahabad HC Order Directing Noida DM to Pay Rs 5 Lakh

The Supreme Court has granted relief to Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam, staying an Allahabad High Court order that had directed her to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation from her salary to student activist Akriti Chaudhary.

A bench of Justices S C Sharma and N K Singh also stayed the operation of the High Court judgment that had quashed Chaudhary's detention under the National Security Act (NSA). The court said the operation of the impugned judgment, particularly paragraphs 27 to 33, would remain stayed until the matter is heard on merits.

Those paragraphs contained the High Court's sharp criticism of Roopam and the Noida administration, in which it warned that continued "despotic" conduct by an "errant" bureaucracy could reduce Uttar Pradesh to an Orwellian dystopia.

The top court was hearing two petitions — one filed by Roopam and another by the State of Uttar Pradesh — in which the question of whether the District Magistrate could be held liable for the activist's detention was argued.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Uttar Pradesh, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Roopam, submitted that the DM's action was based on material placed before her after it had passed through several levels of the police administration, including the Commissioner.

The court orally observed that it could not isolate Roopam and hold her solely liable for the Rs 5 lakh compensation when the decision had followed a multi-level process. It also questioned the material supporting the decision, noting that the DM was not the only authority involved.

Chaudhary, a history graduate from Delhi University, was among several activists arrested in April in connection with workers' protests demanding higher wages in Noida.

In September, the High Court quashed her detention, holding that her incarceration under the NSA violated her fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. It had also directed the DM to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation from her salary to the activist.