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NEW DELHI, Sep 23: In a major relief to Noida DM, Medha Roopam, the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad High Court's order directing her to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation for the alleged illegal detention of DU student Akriti Chaudhary during the Noida workers’ protest.
A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and also comprising Justice N Kotiswar Singh,, which has reserved its decision on the issue in the morning hours, pronounced the order in the evening.
The Supreme Court during the hearing, orally observed that Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate, Roopam, cannot be viewed in isolation if the detention order was the outcome of a five-stage process involving several authorities.
Roopam has challenged the Allahabad High Court's verdict quashing Chaudhary’s detention and imposing a Rs 5 lakh compensation to be recovered from her salary.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Uttar Pradesh State, submitted to the apex court that the "DM acted on police reports", channelled through the SHO, DCP and Commissioner, besides subsequent review by the NSA Advisory Board.
She (Roopam) acted on many people's reports and advice and inputs, please take all these aspects into consideration," he further contended before the top court bench.
The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior law officer also appearing for the UP government, argued that for Roopam, five procedural stages preceded the order and the DM formed her subjective satisfaction only after statutory safeguards.
The Court also noted that where the chain moves from top to bottom, the DM cannot be isolated for liability.
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