Noida/Prayagraj: Calling the case against her “concocted”, Allahabad high court on Wednesday quashed Noida police’s detention of DU law student and labour activist Aakriti Choudhary under National Security Act.Aakriti (25), who is accused of instigating arson and stone-pelting by industrial workers during a protest in the city on April 13 demanding an increase in minimum wages, was arrested a day before the unrest near Botanical Garden.Allowing her habeas corpus plea after finding several procedural lapses when it examined the sequence of her arrest and issuance of notices by police under BNSS, a division bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev ordered compensation of Rs 5 lakh for Aakriti and directed her immediate release if arrest was not warranted in any other case.Aakriti, however, will not walk free as she has been named in 11 FIRs registered at five Noida police stations in connection with the labour protest on charges ranging from rioting to attempted murder, arson, vandalism, damage to public property and inciting violence, and has so far obtained bail in five of them. She and Lucknow-based writer and translator Satyam Varma were charged under NSA, with police accusing them of being the main “conspirators” of the violence.During the hearing, the govt counsel informed the court that Aakriti had been arrested at 10.56 am on April 12 and a notice had been issued to her under Section 130 of BNSS in accordance with the law. But the court questioned that, asking if a notice was served to her under section 126 BNSS (a show cause before a preventive detention is initiated), which is a precursor to a Section 130 notice. Referring to police’s general diary, the court also pointed out that Aakriti appears to have been arrested before the notice was served to her.The court also asked the state what material it had to show that she had asked protesters to set vehicles on fire. When the state counsel said the chargesheet had been filed, Justice Sreedharan observed: “Once the chargesheet is filed, you should have seen where witnesses have named her.”When the counsel cited witness statements naming Aakriti, the court specifically asked for footage showing she had instigated protesters. When the counsel sought more time, the bench declined, noting Aakriti had already spent five months in jail. The detailed court order is awaited.Aakriti’s counsel Manik Gupta said police had failed to produce any evidence in court to support their arguments that she was instrumental in instigating mobs on April 13. “We pointed to all the illegalities of state police and showed photos of the Karawal Nagar event where children participated in a cultural programme organised to commemorate Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom. This event was presented by police as a conspiracy meeting,” he said.“We were successful in pointing out the illegalities and hence the court quashed the NSA proceedings and imposed a cost on the administration,” Gupta said.In cases where Aakriti has obtained bail, courts found lack of evidence to support the charges against her. In one case, a sessions court in Noida observed that she was in prison prior to the incident for which she was charged and “no evidence has been presented on file that would establish the applicant’s active role in the conspiracy”.In another case, the court observed, “The applicant was arrested and sent to jail on April 12 and the incident is stated to have occurred on April 13. Since she was in jail at the time of the incident, there is no basis to believe she committed the crime. Therefore, she should be granted bail.”
