Allahabad HC Quashes NSA Detention of DU Graduate in Noida Protest Case

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, quashed the five-month detention of 25-year-old Delhi University graduate Aakriti Chaudhary under the National Security Act, calling the state's case a "concocted story" and ordering her immediate release. The court also directed Noida authorities to pay her compensation of 500,000 rupees. A bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev delivered the ruling after allowing Chaudhary's habeas corpus petition. The court found significant procedural lapses and inconsistencies in the state's account of her arrest and the allegations against her. Chaudhary, a history graduate from Durgapur, West Bengal, had been in custody for nearly five months in connection with a workers' protest in Noida in April. The protest, which involved tens of thousands of industrial and contractual workers demanding salary hikes and wage parity with neighboring Haryana, turned violent on April 13, with roads blocked and instances of stone-pelting and arson reported. Chaudhary was among several activists arrested in the subsequent police crackdown.