Noida workers’ protest: HC asks why ‘andolanjeevi’ was used in journalist’s NSA detention grounds

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday questioned the use of the term “andolanjeevi” in the grounds for detaining journalist Satyam Verma under the National Security Act after the workers’ protests in Noida, Live Law reported.

“Where did this term ‘andolanjeevi’ come from?” the court was quoted as asking verbally. “How did it find its way into an official document?”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi first used the term in 2021 during protests against the now-repealed farm laws, describing protesters as a new category of people who “are like parasites who feed off protests”.

The bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev was hearing Verma’s petition challenging his detention under the National Security Act. The Act allows for long periods of detention without trial up to a year.

During the hearing, the bench perused the detention order dated May 12, issued by Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam, and the grounds of detention supplied to Verma.

The 60-year-old former journalist from Lucknow was among two persons detained under the Act on May 13. Verma and 25-year-old Aakriti Chaudhary are members of the Mazdoor Bigul Dasta, a workers’ organisation.

The police alleged that the two had played a “significant” role in "instigating violence, arson and creating chaos” during the protest. Verma and Chaudhary “provoked” persons in different areas to...

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