New Delhi: Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam has approached the Supreme Court challenging an Allahabad High Court order directing the recovery of ₹5 lakh in compensation from her salary and the salaries of other officers responsible for the detention of Delhi University student and activist Akriti Chaudhary under the National Security Act (NSA).
The Allahabad High Court had quashed Chaudhary’s detention, holding that the detention order and its grounds lacked sufficient material and were passed without application of mind. The court awarded ₹5 lakh compensation to Chaudhary and directed its recovery from the salaries of the DM and other responsible officers, “right down to the SHO.”
A Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev strongly criticised the manner in which the detention order was passed. It observed that the DM was required to examine the police report and supporting material thoroughly before invoking the stringent provisions of the NSA.
The court noted that Chaudhary had no previous criminal record and that the material did not establish that she had incited violence. It also criticised the conduct of the DM, observing that the circumstances indicated an attempt to set an example out of Chaudhary and deter others from exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression in support of labourers.
The Bench further stressed that civil servants’ loyalty must be towards the Constitution and not the political executive, warning that continued “despotic” conduct by errant bureaucracy could reduce Uttar Pradesh to an “Orwellian Dystopia”.
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