The Allahabad High Court has quashed the National Security Act (NSA) detention of activist Aakriti Chaudhary in connection with the Noida workers’ protest, but the order has not yet brought her out of prison. The UP Police have registered 11 FIRs against her, and her lawyer Manik Gupta said she has so far secured bail in four.Chaudhary has spent around five months in jail after being booked under the NSA in connection with the April 2026 protest. The police alleged that she instigated protesters to indulge in stone pelting and set vehicles on fire.The high court’s intervention followed questions over the evidence linking her to the alleged violence. On Tuesday, the court had sought video evidence from the Uttar Pradesh Government to establish whether she had instigated violence. On Wednesday, a Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev quashed the detention while hearing her habeas corpus petition.The Bench questioned the government about the material supporting the allegations. It asked where it had been recorded that Chaudhary had called people and told them to throw stones, and whether there was evidence that she had asked protesters to set vehicles on fire. After being told that the chargesheet had been filed, the court also asked whether witnesses had specifically named Chaudhary.Gupta said the defence had challenged the police version about a meeting allegedly held in Kurukshetra in connection with a protest in Manesar.“Contrary to the police’s claims, a meeting was merely conducted to start a children’s library for the workers in Karawal Nagar. This meeting was linked to the mobilisation meeting for the Manesar protest. We proved that the meeting was innocent,” he said.On May 13, the UP Police had invoked the NSA against Chaudhary and journalist Satyam Verma. They were among seven activists arrested in cases linked to the protest. Gautam Buddh Nagar Commissioner of Police Laxmi Singh had said the police had “strong electronic and videographic evidence” against them and 65 others arrested in the cases.Gupta said priority was to secure the release of all those arrested and seek prosecution of police officials involved in the cases.