Overview
- India’s Supreme Court, in a Friday order, directed Uttar Pradesh to produce Aditya Anand and Rupesh Roy before the bench at 2 pm on Monday, May 18.
- The bench said the men were not terrorists and ordered they remain in judicial custody to prevent a shift to police remand.
- A petition by Anand’s brother alleges custodial torture and says lawyers were blocked from helping, while the state denies abuse and says all arrest rules were followed.
- Police say the pair led unrest using WhatsApp groups, noting Anand’s April 17 arrest at Tiruchirappalli after a Rs 1 lakh reward, as the April protests over wages saw clashes, vandalism, and hundreds of arrests.
- Authorities also used the National Security Act against a journalist and a student activist linked to the case, and related habeas and procedure challenges are moving through the courts.