Noida Protest : Supreme Court Seeks UP Govt Response On Plea Challenging NSA Detention Of Journalist Accused Of Inciting Workers

The Supreme Court today(May 19) issued notice in a writ petition filed by the wife of journalist Satyam Verma seeking to declare his preventive detention under the National Security Act, 1980, as illegal. Singh was arrested for allegedly instigating workers to carry out violence during the Noida labourers' protest in April.

A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has been hearing a writ petition filed by one Keshaw Anand, alleging custodial torture of his brother  Aditya Anand and Rupesh Roy during the protest. The Court had issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and had asked them to produce the accused persons physically. It had also orally remarked that the State shouldn't treat them as "terrorists" as they were merely protesting for fair wages.

Today, both of them were brought to the Court and the bench interacted with both of them briefly. The bench expressed satisfaction but ordered that the judicial custody should continue.

For Keshaw Anandr, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves had sought that they should not be transferred to police custody on apprehension of custodial torture. It had also sought that an independent inquiry may also be carried out into the allegations of torture. For now, the Court has kept the matter pending but stated that all other proceedings, bail shall be proceeded irrespective of the pendency of this matter.

As for the other case, Advocate Sharukh Alam informed that the petitioner's wife has challenged the detention order and clubbing of the various FIRs.

In the 60-year-old Satyam's case, it has been argued by the petitioner that he was not present during the protest period, but he was arrested for being the publisher and writer of Mazdoor Bigul Newspaper and administering the Facebook page of Mazdoor Bigul, and for being a member of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of India.

As per his detention order issued by the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Satyam instigated the workers to carry out violence collectively, armed disturbance, and to indirectly instigate to carry out of large-scale arson of public and private properties and to do the "leftist" violent writings to incite the new generation to enter into the rebel organisation through books and literature of Pustak Pratisthan. 

It has also been stated that from Saytam's office, books of quotations of Mao-tse Tung works and other "objectionable anti-democratic system" articles were found.

However, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj stated that a habeas corpus petition is pending before the Allahabad High Court. In consideration of this, the Court said it can't grant any interim relief as of now, but then went on to issue notice. "For now, we can't grant you any interim relief because the validity of the detention order has to be seen," Justice Nagarathna said.

The matter has now been tagged to the other petition, and the Court has allowed the petitioner to seek other remedies irrespective of the pendency.

In the other case, while Aditya Anand is a software engineer and a social worker, Rupesh Roy is an auto driver. Both participated in the protest for an increase in minimum wage and decent working hours for the workers.

It is contended that Aditya was arrested on April 17 at the Tiruchirappalli railway station in Tamil Nadu, without disclosure of the grounds of arrest and without providing an arrest memo. It is claimed that he was not allowed to inform his family or legal counsel about the arrest. Aditya made several representations to the multiple authorities in the States of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh regarding his detention; he was not granted transit remand.

He was then taken to Uttar Pradesh, where he was arrested under Sections 191(1), 191(2), 115(2), 121(1), 121(2), 125(1), 351(3), 352, 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. As for Rupesh, it is contended that he was subjected to severe torture, and the police made a fake disclosure and recovery to implicate him. He had also addressed the labour protests and was taken by the police officers from the Botanical Garden metro station.