Supreme Court overturns NSA detention of Sambhal case suspect, fines Uttar Pradesh
The Supreme Court set aside a National Security Act detention order against Mulla Afroz and imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on the Uttar Pradesh government.
In a ruling delivered by Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu, the Supreme Court cancelled a National Security Act detention order issued in October 2025 against Mulla Afroz, a man accused in the Sambhal mosque violence of November 2024. The court held that the state had illegally exercised its detention power, basing the order only on a confession obtained under duress. It further directed the Uttar Pradesh government to bear a cost of ₹10 lakh.
Afroz, who was arrested nearly two months after the incident, claimed he was forced to confess and that the police evidence, including a seized.32-bore pistol, was inconsistent with forensic findings. Advocate Divyesh Pratap Singh represented Afroz, emphasizing the lack of substantive material supporting the detention. The decision underscores judicial scrutiny of preventive detention practices in India.
Why it matters
The ruling challenges the use of preventive detention without solid evidence and holds a state government financially accountable.
How the sides frame it
HIGH AGREEMENTBoth camps report the Supreme Court overturning the NSA detention and fining Uttar Pradesh, but left-leaning coverage stresses the illegal use of detention power and the forced confession, while centrist coverage highlights the legal principle that detention cannot be based on a confession and adds a note about the justice’s tribute to a deceased law clerk.
LEFT
Frames the ruling as a rebuke of unlawful state power and a vindication of the suspect’s rights after a duress-obtained confession.
CENTER
Frames the ruling as a legal clarification that NSA detention cannot rely on a confession, noting the imposed fine and a human-interest detail about a justice’s tribute.
The left emphasises
- state illegally exercised detention power
- confession obtained under duress
- Uttar Pradesh fined ₹10 lakh
In this story
