HC reserves verdict on journalist’s plea challenging NSA detention

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a habeas corpus petition filed by journalist Satyam Verma, challenging his preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, in connection with his alleged role in the April 2026 workers’ protest in Noida.A division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev reserved the verdict after hearing the parties over two days, on Oct 7 and 8.Verma has challenged the detention order dated May 12, 2026, issued by the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate under the NSA.The petition seeks quashing of the detention order and related proceedings, besides seeking Verma’s immediate release and compensation for his alleged illegal detention.The principal ground raised in the plea is that the detention order was based on a factually untenable premise that Verma was involved in violence in Noida on April 13, 2026.According to the petition, CCTV footage and call detail records (CDRs) show that Verma was nearly 500 km away in Lucknow, where he was allegedly detained by Hasanganj Police at 2:14 pm on the same day. The plea describes this as an “ironclad alibi” and argues that an NSA detention order based on physically impossible and demonstrably false facts is liable to be quashed.The petition further alleges that the investigating officer suppressed the CDRs and CCTV footage from Hasanganj Police Station while placing material before the detaining authority, thereby vitiating its subjective satisfaction.It also contends that Verma was not named in any of the 11 FIRs relied upon by the State to justify the detention.According to the plea, the detention order is based on statements allegedly made by a co-accused or witness, Mangal, while in police custody. The petitioner argues that such statements are inadmissible in law.The petition also disputes the State’s characterisation of Verma’s professional income as funding for riots. It states that his income over nearly two decades was earned through his profession, received through formal banking channels, and disclosed in income tax returns.Another ground raised in the petition is that the material relied upon by the authorities, even if accepted in its entirety, relates to a local labour dispute over minimum wages. According to Verma, such a dispute falls within the ambit of “law and order” and does not constitute a threat to “public order”.The plea alleges that the NSA was used to suppress a spontaneous and lawful labour demand.Stay updated with the latest Prayagraj news. Download the TOI App.