Noting that workers protesting for a wage hike were “not terrorists”, the Supreme Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to produce Aditya Anand and Rupesh Roy before the court on May 18, who were arrested in connection with last month’s workers’ protest in Noida.“They are not terrorists; they are merely demanding basic rights like minimum wages,” a Bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna said, adding that subscribing to “leftist ideology” did not make a person a criminal.The remarks came during the hearing of a petition filed by Aditya’s brother, Keshaw Anand, who has accused the Uttar Pradesh Police of subjecting the arrested men to custodial torture.As the petitioner’s counsel expressed apprehension that the two might be sent to police remand, the Bench ordered that they should continue to remain in judicial custody.After hearing lawyers representing the petitioner and the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Bench said, “We direct respondent no. 1/State to produce the brother of the petitioner, Aditya Anand, and Rupesh Roy before this court on 18.05.2026 at 2 pm. In the meantime, judicial custody of the aforesaid two persons to continue…”The Bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh and directed the production of the two men. It posted the matter for further hearing at 2 pm on May 18.Aditya Anand, a software engineer and social worker, and Rupesh Roy, an auto driver, had participated in the protest demanding higher minimum wages and decent working hours for workers, the petitioner submitted.Keshaw alleged that Aditya was arrested on April 17 at Tiruchirappalli railway station in Tamil Nadu without being informed of the grounds of arrest and without being provided an arrest memo.He alleged that Aditya was not allowed to inform his family or legal counsel about the arrest despite several representations to authorities in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh regarding his detention.Aditya was later brought to Uttar Pradesh, where he was arrested under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the petitioner alleged.Rupesh, the petitioner alleged, was picked up by the police from Botanical Garden Metro Station and subjected to severe torture, following which the police made a fake disclosure and recovery to implicate him.