The Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly questioned the Gautam Budh Nagar administration over a preventive notice issued to a 20-year-old law student who had attended a student protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed his displeasure after senior advocate Bishwajit Bhattacharyya brought the matter before the court. The notice had been issued to Gautam Buddha University student Akshat Tripathi on September 4 and was withdrawn the following day.
“How could a Magistrate dare to issue notice?” the CJI asked, pointing out that the Supreme Court had already made it clear that no coercive action should be taken against students who participated in the protests.
The court said it would seek an explanation from the Gautam Budh Nagar district and executive magistrates. The CJI stressed that the September 1 Supreme Court order was clear and could not be ignored by executive authorities.
The September 1 order had brought an end to criminal proceedings connected with protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) between July 20 and 25. The court had directed that FIRs registered across states and Union territories in connection with those demonstrations would not be pursued or investigated.
It had also said that no fresh FIRs should be registered over the same incidents and that merely taking part in the protests could not be treated as an offence.
Tripathi’s notice alleged that he had spread “anti-government propaganda” and encouraged fellow students to join the protest. He was asked to explain why he should not be directed to furnish a personal bond of ₹5 lakh along with two sureties of the same amount.
However, the notice was later cancelled after an inquiry reportedly found that the information on which it was based was false. It emerged that Tripathi had left the university campus for his semester break and was in Prayagraj when the notice was issued.
Tripathi confirmed that he had attended the Jantar Mantar protest on July 20 but questioned the allegation that he had encouraged students on the university campus to join the demonstration.
The Supreme Court's intervention came shortly after the Allahabad High Court criticised the Gautam Budh Nagar administration in another case involving student activist Akriti Chaudhary. The High Court had quashed her preventive detention under the National Security Act and criticised the authorities for what it described as bureaucratic overreach.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the CJI directed the lawyer to place all relevant facts and documents before the court. He said the bench would seek an explanation from the Gautam Budh Nagar magistrate over the issuance of the notice despite the Supreme Court’s earlier directions.
Reader Comments 0