Supreme Court Questions Greater Noida Authority Over Protest Notice
The Supreme Court of India has announced its intention to seek an explanation from Greater Noida authorities regarding the issuance of a notice to a second-year student who participated in the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar. This development comes despite the Supreme Court’s explicit directive to cease all criminal proceedings related to these demonstrations.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana emphasized the clarity of their previous ruling, which stated unequivocally that no penal actions should be taken against students involved in the protests. “No penal action against students. The language is very clear in our order,” stated CJI Kant.
The matter was brought to the Court’s attention by Senior Advocate Biswajeet Bhattacharya, who highlighted that an Executive Magistrate in Greater Noida had issued a notice to a student, Akshat Tripathi, based on information from the Noida Police. This action, Bhattacharya argued, was in direct violation of the Supreme Court’s September 1 ruling.
Bhattacharya further remarked on the broader implications of this incident, suggesting that such actions could affect students nationwide. Although the September 4 notice was reportedly rescinded, Bhattacharya informed the Court that no official document had been issued to confirm this withdrawal, with the media being the sole source of this information.
He contended that the Greater Noida authority’s actions constituted contempt of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Retracting the notice, he argued, does not mitigate the initial contempt. “Contempt first and withdrawal next. Contempt cannot be purged. It is contempt of the majesty of this Court. This is the highest court of the country, which is holding the court of our democracy,” Bhattacharya asserted.
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In response, CJI Kant assured, “We will ask the District Magistrate to explain. We will ask.” The notice in question was issued by the Executive Magistrate III at the Greater Noida Commissionerate in Gautam Buddha Nagar. It accused Tripathi of spreading anti-government propaganda and inciting other students to join the CJP protests, raising concerns about potential disruptions to public peace.
The notice demanded that Tripathi justify why he should not be required to provide a ₹5 lakh bond and two sureties to prevent any further breach of peace over the next six months. Despite reports indicating that the notice was withdrawn on the same day, the incident has raised significant concerns about compliance with Supreme Court directives.
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