The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed the preventive detention of Akriti Chaudhary, a History graduate from Delhi University, under the National Security Act (NSA) [Akriti Chaudhary (Detenue) v Union of India and Others].The order was passed by a Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev on a habeas corpus petition challenging Chaudhary's detention."The continued incarceration of the petitioner under the provisions of the NSA is violative of her rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The order of detention along with the grounds of detention, being devoid of any material warranting the incarceration of the Petitioner under the NSA and the impugned order having been passed without application of mind, are quashed," the Court said..The development was confirmed to the Bar & Bench by Advocate Charlie Prakash who said that the Court has also directed the Noida authorities to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh to Chaudhary.Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, along with advocate Prakash, represented Chaudhary in the case..Chaudhary will continue to remain in custody as she is yet to secure bail in various cases registered in connection with the industrial workers' protest that took place in Noida in April. The workers had staged protests to demand better wages and working conditions. The protests had also turned violent, leading to police action against the workers.Chaudhary had attended a demonstration to express solidarity with the workers. The police accused her of playing a major role in the violence during the workers' protest. In her petition challenging the detention, Chaudhary said that she had participated in the agitation in her capacity as a social worker and was not an organizer of the protests.“The allegations contained in the grounds of detention are vague, omnibus, general in nature and devoid of material particulars,” the plea added. .Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves with Advocates Charlie Prakash, Manik Gupta and Rajvendra Singh represented the petitioner.Advocate Balram Govind Tripathi with Advocate Kuldeep Kumar represented the Union of India.Additional Government Advocate Nitesh Kumar Srivastava represented the State government. [Read Judgment]
