The Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate (DM) Medha Roopam, has appealed the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court's order that Rs 5 lakh compensation must be recovered from her personal salary, which is to be given to the DU student Akriti Chaudhary whose detention under the National Security Act (NSA) was found to be illegal.
On September 2, the HC Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev had quashed the NSA detention of 24-year-old Chaudhary, who had spent nearly five months in custody.
Its order came down heavily on the DM and directed the authorities to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation to the student with the amount to be recovered from the Roopam's salary.
This order was now challenged by Roopam in the top court. It is likely that the SC will take up her Special Leave Petition (SLP) within 2-3 days.
Chaudhary is a law student, who was detained under the NSA in connection with the workers protest in Noida in April.
The workers were protesting seeking higher wages. She was arrested on April 12, and NSA was invoked in May against her. The HC had said that the detention order was based on concocted story and termed DM's conduct despotic.
The HC said continued incarceration under NSA violated her fundamental right under Article 21 right to life and personal liberty. It said the detention order and grounds were devoid of material.
The Bench said, the police report only contained allegations.
Roopam who is the daughter of the current Chief Election Comissioner Gyanesh Kumar, separately appealed against the ruling particularly against the direction imposing financial liability on her and entry of displeasure in service records.
The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UP government, had earlier in one of the hearings, informed the apex court that the state government would also contest the HC ruling. He made these submission while clarifying it in another case hearing.
