Despotic officers will turn UP Orwellian: HC raps Noida DM over student's detention

The Allahabad High Court has struck down the NSA detention of a Delhi University student arrested during April's Noida workers' protest. The court came down heavily on Gautam Buddha Nagar DM Medha Roopam, warning that errant officials could reduce Uttar Pradesh to an "Orwellian Dystopia".

A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev held that the continued incarceration of about 24-year-old Akriti Chaudhary violated her fundamental rights, finding that the DM's NSA detention order and its grounds were devoid of material and showed "non-application of mind".

The court said the detention violated her right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The court also awarded Chaudhary Rs 5 lakh compensation and directed that the amount be recovered from the salary of the Gautam Buddha Nagar DM and other officers who may have been responsible, right down to the SHO who prepared the initial report.

The court's reference to Orwellian Dystopia draws on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, which depicts a society marked by unchecked state power, pervasive surveillance and suppression of dissent. The High Court used the phrase to warn against arbitrary exercise of governmental power and erosion of civil liberties.

'NO EVIDENCE OF VIOLENCE'

Chaudhary, a Delhi University history graduate and student activist, was arrested in cases arising from a workers' protest in Noida in April this year. The protest sought higher wages and humane working hours. The Uttar Pradesh Police later invoked the NSA against her, alleging that she and her associates had conspired to foment violence during the agitation.

The High Court, however, found no material showing that Chaudhary had incited violence.

While examining WhatsApp conversations and videos cited by the state government, the bench repeatedly asked it to identify evidence showing that Chaudhary had called for rioting, arson or destruction of public and private property. The state could not point to "a single message" or video clip showing such incitement, the order said.

The court noted that the videos showed people gathering to demand higher wages and humane working hours, without showing the crowd to be armed or engaged in violence. It said the gathering appeared to be an exercise of the constitutional right to freedom of speech.

The bench said NSA detention is an exception and cannot be used as a substitute for ordinary criminal law. It found the grounds of detention "repetitive, speculative and are only opinion-based", stressing that extraordinary powers resulting in incarceration cannot be exercised on the basis of "surmises, biases, conjectures and opinions".

COURT FLAGS ARREST DISCREPANCIES

The court also found discrepancies in the account of Chaudhary's arrest. She was taken into custody around 5:30 pm on April 11 at Botanical Garden Metro Station, while the state government claimed she was arrested on April 12. The court said the material before it made Chaudhary's version that she was taken into custody on April 11 "probabilise as true".

The state government relied on a notice relating to a bond for good behaviour. However, the notice carried a General Diary entry number that the court found had been generated at 10:20 am on April 12.

The bench observed that the notice could not have been prepared before the arrest if it already carried the subsequently generated GD number. It concluded that the notice appeared to have been prepared after the arrest and described the procedure as "ex post facto" and "nothing more than a sham".

'LOYALTY IS TOWARDS CONSTITUTION'

The court was particularly critical of Gautam Buddha Nagar DM Roopam's decision to invoke the NSA, saying Chaudhary had no previous criminal record and that the material did not show she had incited violence. "The conduct of the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar who passed the impugned order, is worthy of derision," the court said.

The court said the DM was expected to examine the police report "threadbare" to determine whether there was credible material supporting the allegations and whether the stringent NSA was warranted against a student activist with no previous criminal record.

It further observed that the District Magistrate "desired to set an example" out of Chaudhary and deter others from exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression in public spaces in support of labourers.

The bench stressed that officials' "loyalty is towards the Constitution and not the political executive" and said government officers are servants of the people, who are "the masters in a democracy".

It warned that officials acting contrary to their oath could be viewed as an "oppressive vestige of the British Empire", creating an environment of civil unrest. "It shan't be long before the errant in the bureaucracy reduce the State of Uttar Pradesh to an Orwellian Dystopia," the court observed.

The High Court also upheld the right to peaceful protest, saying freedom of speech and expression extends to people gathering in public spaces and agitating for their rights. The court said the right to peaceful protest could not be curtailed merely on the assumption that a gathering may lead to a breach of peace. It also warned that violence by "mischievous elements" should not automatically be attributed to an entire peaceful group.

"Preventing people from gathering in public spaces or agitating for their rights on the grounds of assumed breach of peace, would be throwing the baby out of the bath water," it said.

The court directed that its displeasure against the District Magistrate and police officers involved in preparing the NSA dossier be recorded in their service records.

Chaudhary, however, continues to remain in judicial custody in the underlying criminal cases, as the court noted that quashing the NSA detention would not end her incarceration until she secures bail in those cases.