• Source:JND
HighLights
  1. Greater Noida Magistrate suspended for controversial notice to student.
  2. Student Akshat Tripathi challenged Rs 5 lakh bond demand.
  3. Supreme Court strongly intervened, leading to official's suspension.

The Executive Magistrate of Greater Noida, who issued a show-cause notice to Akshat Tripathi, a student of Gautam Buddha University. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that the Executive Magistrate of Greater Noida has been suspended for issuing a show-cause notice to a student.

Tripathi had filed a writ petition challenging the notice issued by the Executive Magistrate under Section 130 of the BNSS. The SG made this statement while responding to the petition.

'A Strong Message Must Be Sent To The Authorities'

Senior advocate PV Dinesh, who moved the petition before a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, said a strong message must be sent to the authorities.

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What Was The Allegation Against The Student?

Dinesh said that the notice stated that Tripathi was spreading anti-government and misleading propaganda among students and that he was asked to furnish a bond. The notice was issued based on a report by a sub-inspector from the Echo First police station, which alleged that Tripathi was spreading anti-government and misleading propaganda among students and inciting them to join the proposed CJP sit-in. The report said that this had created a lot of tension and students could have fought among themselves, which could have disturbed peace and law and order.

According to the petition, the notice invoked Section 126 of the BNSS. This section empowers an Executive Magistrate to call for security for the maintenance of peace when there is information that a person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity.

Section 135 of the IPC, which provides for verification of the veracity of such information, was also invoked. The notice proposed a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh for six months and two sureties of the same amount.

ALSO READ: 'How Dare They': CJI Fumes Over Greater Noida Magistrate's Notice To CJP Protester Despite 'No Action' Order

What Student Said In His Petition

Tripathi's petition states that the notice did not mention any specific date, time, statement, direct action, or incident of actual or imminent violence for which he could be held responsible. It also states that no material was provided to him to support the allegations.

The petition also challenges the procedure adopted by the Executive Magistrate. The September 4th notice fixed September 5th as the date for Tripathi's appearance. The petition emphasises that he was given barely a day to engage a lawyer, understand the charges, and arrange the required bail of Rs 5 lakh.

The petition states that this action is directly against the Supreme Court's September 1 order, in which the FIR related to the students' protest was quashed and coercive action against the students was banned.

It also argued that the charges levelled against Tripathi fall within the ambit of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) and the right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution.

SC Comes Down Heavily Against Magistrate

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Greater Noida executive magistrate for issuing the notice, asking how the magistrate "dared" to issue a notice despite the court's earlier order. The apex court said it would seek an explanation from the Greater Noida executive magistrate over the issue.

Earlier, Tripathi, who allegedly participated in a CJP-led protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, was served a notice by the Greater Noida Executive Magistrate seeking a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh for maintaining peace. However, the order was later revoked. The student denied the allegations and claimed that he had participated in the protest peacefully and was not attending university classes at the time.

(With Jagran.com/PTI inputs)


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