Noida district magistrate appeals to Supreme Court over docked salary and student detention rebuke

The appeal

Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn an Allahabad High Court judgement that ordered her and several other local officials to pay ₹5 lakh out of their own salaries for illegally detaining a student activist.

The appeal challenges a scathing September 2 ruling that quashed the nearly five-month detention of Akriti Chaudhary, a 25-year-old Delhi University history graduate. Chaudhary had been held under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) following a workers' protest in Noida.

An Orwellian warning

In throwing out the detention, the High Court did not mince its words. The division bench described the state's case against Chaudhary as a "concocted story" and warned that such "despotic" bureaucratic actions risked turning Uttar Pradesh into an "Orwellian dystopia".

The judges ruled that Roopam had rubber-stamped a police dossier without applying her mind, using the oppressive provisions of the NSA against a student with no prior criminal record. The court stated that the administration had acted to make an "example" of Chaudhary and deter others from exercising their right to free speech in support of labourers.

"The District Magistrate Gautam Buddha Nagar is guilty of violating her oath of allegiance," the High Court observed, stressing that bureaucrats must remember their "loyalty is towards the constitution and not the political executive".

The court added that in a democracy, the people are the masters, and officials are public servants entrusted with power to uphold, not suppress, the constitutional rights of citizens.

Salaries docked and records marked

As a penalty for the illegal arrest, the High Court ordered the ₹5 lakh compensation for Chaudhary to be clawed back directly from the salaries of Roopam and the police officers involved in the case, right down to the local station house officer. It also directed that the court's formal displeasure be entered into their official service records.

The dispute dates back to April 2026, when local industrial and contract workers staged demonstrations demanding wage parity with neighbouring Haryana. While the protests turned violent on April 13, Chaudhary was not arrested until later. On May 13, the Uttar Pradesh Police invoked the NSA against her and activist-journalist Satya Verma, claiming they had electronic and videographic evidence that Chaudhary had instigated stone-pelting and arson.

The High Court found those claims groundless, pointing out clear discrepancies in the arrest notices.

Roopam’s petition to the Supreme Court, which names Chaudhary as the primary respondent, follows an announcement on September 9 by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the government would challenge the high court's decision.