SC Questions Noida Magistrate's Notice To Student After Quashing Of Protest FIRs

Lucknow: The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up a Noida executive magistrate for issuing a notice to a student involved in a protest, despite the court having recently quashed FIRs related to the demonstrations and restrained authorities from taking coercive action against students over their participation.

Supreme Court questions notice

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading the bench, questioned how an executive magistrate could issue such a notice after the Supreme Court's order.

"When the Supreme Court has quashed FIRs related to student protests and restrained coercive action against students in the future, how did the executive magistrate have the courage to issue a notice to the student? No magistrate can violate that order," the CJI said during the hearing.

The issue was brought to the court's attention by senior advocate Bishwajit Bhattacharyya, who told the bench that a Noida executive magistrate had issued a notice to student Akshat Tripathi asking why he should not be required to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and two sureties for the same amount to maintain peace.

Notice later withdrawn

The notice was issued on September 4 by R K Sisodia, Third Executive Magistrate of the Noida Commissionerate, under Section 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

The notice was subsequently withdrawn on September 5.

Bhattacharyya told the court that the action amounted to contempt of the Supreme Court's order and could create fear among students.

"This is an experiment being carried out with students in India. It will have an impact across the country. First there was contempt and then the notice was withdrawn. Such contempt cannot be cured in this manner," the lawyer submitted.

The CJI assured the counsel that the court would seek a response from the district magistrate on the issue.

Student’s case details

Tripathi, a resident of Jhunsi in Prayagraj, is pursuing BA-LLB at Gautam Buddha University and is a member of the Uttar Pradesh state committee of the Students' Federation of India.

According to the notice, there were sufficient grounds to believe that Tripathi was encouraging university students to participate in a proposed protest by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). It alleged that he was spreading anti-government and misleading information among students and that such activities could create tension and affect public order.

The magistrate had asked Tripathi to explain why he should not be bound down for maintaining peace for six months and directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh along with two sureties for the same amount. The matter was listed for hearing on September 5.

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Earlier FIRs quashed

Tripathi had on Tuesday posted a video on social media questioning the action against him. He said he had been threatened with action despite the Supreme Court's order and questioned whether criticising government policies or peacefully protesting issues such as paper leaks could be treated as a crime.

The Supreme Court had last week quashed FIRs registered in connection with the CJP protests at Jantar Mantar between July 20 and 25 following clashes between protesters and police. The order applied to cases registered across states and Union territories, while making it clear that cases against protesters with a criminal record would continue.