Supreme Court clarifies stay in Medha Roopam case; Allahabad High Court’s quashing of NSA detention remains in force

The Supreme Court has revised its interim order in the petitions filed by Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam and the Uttar Pradesh government, clarifying that the stay is confined to the adverse observations and compensation direction issued by the Allahabad High Court against the officer.

The bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice NK Singh passed the order while hearing the petitions filed by Roopam and the State of Uttar Pradesh challenging the High Court’s judgment. The clarification makes it clear that the High Court’s judgment quashing the detention of student Akriti Chaudhary under the National Security Act (NSA) has not been stayed.

The Supreme Court’s initial order stayed the operation of the High Court’s entire judgment pending a hearing on merits, specifically highlighting paragraphs 27 to 33. Thus, the stay is limited to paragraphs 27 to 33 of the Allahabad High Court judgment, which contained the strictures against Roopam and the direction to award compensation to Chaudhary.

The Allahabad High Court had quashed the detention of Akriti Chaudhary under the NSA in connection with the Noida workers’ protest and had made adverse observations against the Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate.

The High Court had also directed payment of Rs 5 lakh as compensation to Chaudhary, with the amount to be recovered from Roopam’s salary. These observations and the compensation direction formed part of paragraphs 27 to 33 of the judgment.

The Supreme Court’s revised order now makes clear that while these portions of the High Court judgment remain stayed pending adjudication of the appeals, the underlying decision quashing Chaudhary’s detention continues to operate.

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