India, Sept. 2 -- The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday, September 2, quashed the National Security Act detention of Aakriti Chaudhary, a 25-year-old Delhi University history graduate held for around five months over the April 2026 Noida workers' protest, and directed her immediate release unless wanted in any other case. A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev, allowing her habeas corpus petition, found the detention rested on what it called a concocted story by the state.

Chaudhary was picked up by UP Police on April 12, 2026, along with factory worker Manisha and software engineer Adit Anand, days after the protest by Noida factory workers demanding higher wages turned violent on April 13, with over 350 people arrested. ...