Protests by factory workers demanding an increase in wages turned violent in parts of Noida last month. Archive | Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Friday (May 8, 2026) refused to grant bail to a student accused of inciting violence during the industrial workers’ protest in Noida on April 13.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the lawyer appearing for Aakriti Chaudhary to approach the Allahabad High Court.
“Why don’t you go to the Supreme Court? Everyone comes here filing a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. There are 93,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court,” the court observed.
The lawyer appearing for Ms Chaudhary claimed that the police had not informed the accused of the reasons for his arrest and sought bail.
He told the high court that Ms Chaudhary is a student of Delhi University.
The high court also notified police officials about a plea filed by Keshaw Anand alleging torture by Uttar Pradesh police officials.
A Noida court had earlier allowed conditional police remand of three women, Ms Chaudhary, Manisha Chauhan and Srishti Gupta, accused of inciting violence during the industrial workers’ protest on April 13.
The court also allowed his lawyers to be present during the investigation process.
Ms. Chaudhary and Ms. Gupta are both from Delhi and are in their twenties. Ms. Chaudhary has a master’s degree in history from Daulat Ram College, while Ms. Chauhan is a worker in an industrial unit in Noida.
In the custody application, the police maintained that there was “full possibility of obtaining important evidence from the place of residence of the accused”.
Protests by factory workers demanding an increase in wages turned violent in parts of Noida last month.
According to officials, a large number of workers from various industrial units gathered to press their long-pending demand for wage revision and raised slogans during the demonstration.
However, the protest descended into violence when some participants allegedly vandalized property, threw stones and set a vehicle on fire.
Published – May 8, 2026 12:45 pm IST
