Supreme Court Puts Allahabad High Court’s Remarks Against Noida DM Medha Roopam on Hold

(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)

23, Sep,2026-The Supreme Court has partly stayed an Allahabad High Court order that criticised Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam over the detention of Delhi University history graduate Akriti Chaudhary under the National Security Act (NSA).

A Bench comprising Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and NK Singh also suspended the High Court’s direction requiring Roopam to pay ₹5 lakh in compensation to Chaudhary from her salary.

The case relates to Chaudhary’s detention in connection with industrial workers’ protests held in Noida in April. On September 2, the Allahabad High Court had quashed the detention order, observing that the police report lacked credible material to justify invoking the NSA.

The High Court had further directed that the compensation amount be recovered from the salaries of the District Magistrate and other officials responsible for preparing the report that led to Chaudhary’s detention.

In strong observations, the High Court said public officials must remain loyal to the Constitution rather than the political executive. It also criticised the authorities for failing to scrutinise the material before resorting to what it described as the “oppressive provisions” of the NSA.

Roopam subsequently challenged the High Court’s decision before the Supreme Court.

Following the top court’s interim order, the matter has been listed for further hearing on October 7.