A student of Greater Noida's Gautam Buddha University (GBU) was served a notice by the district administration last week on Friday, seeking a personal bond of ₹5 lakh to ensure that he will maintain peace after he allegedly attended the student protest at Jantar Mantar. The notice was revoked the same day.
The notice was issued by the Greater Noida Executive Magistrate on September 4 under Section 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), after proceedings were initiated under Sections 126 and 135 before the Assistant Commissioner of Police’s court, reported news agency PTI.
The report submitted by the police, it was alleged that the student, Akshat Tripathi, encouraged other students of the university to participate in a protest called by a political party and that he was propagating anti-government narratives.
Deep Dive
What led to the show-cause notice being issued to Akshat Tripathi?
Why was the notice served to the student revoked on the same day?
How did Akshat Tripathi respond to the allegations made against him?
As per the notice, Tripathi was asked to show cause why he should not be directed to maintain peace for six months by furnishing a personal bond of ₹5 lakh, along with two sureties of the same amount and was due to appear for a hearing on September 5.
The police also alleged that Tripathi's activities caused a tense atmosphere on the university campus which could have led to disruption of law and order. However, the police later clarified that the notice was revoked the same day.
Student denies allegations
{{/usCountry}}The police also alleged that Tripathi's activities caused a tense atmosphere on the university campus which could have led to disruption of law and order. However, the police later clarified that the notice was revoked the same day.
Student denies allegations
{{/usCountry}}Tripathi denied the allegations made in the report and maintained that he participated in the protest peacefully and was not attending college at the time. He is originally from Prayagraj and currently lives in Greater Noida's Ecotech-1 area.
He also alleged that he was injured in police action during the Parliament protest march on July 20.
The move by authorities was criticised by the Students' Federation of India (SFI), which called the action “repressive”.
CJP's reaction
The Cockroach Janta party reacted to reports of the notice served to Tripathi and quipped whether the Gautam Buddha Nagar district magistrate Medha Roopam has read the Supreme Court ruling granting immunity to Jantar Mantar protesters or not.
“Has the DM Gautam Buddha Nagar not read the historic September 1 order of the Supreme Court? All protesters have a permanent blanket immunity from any legal action for their participation in CJP protests. Akshay Tripathi need not execute bail bond of 5 lakh rupees,” CJP spokesperson Saurav Das wrote in a post on X.
“We have asked the Union Government to immediately act accordingly and send a copy of the judgment to the learned DM. We will not allow any student to be targeted,” he added.
(With inputs from PTI)