Prayagraj: On Friday (May 29), the Allahabad high court issued a direction asking the Uttar Pradesh government to file a reply in connection with the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of journalist Satyam Verma through his wife Shakambhari.A division bench comprising Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Devendra Singh-I issued notice to the state authorities giving time to file a counter affidavit and put on record their stand before the court. Verma was represented in court by senior advocate Syed Farman Ahmad Naqvi along with advocates Shashwat Anand, Ankur Azad and Shashank Tiwari.According to a press note issued by Verma’s legal team, his habeas corpus petition challenges the legality of his arrest, detention and continuing custody in the criminal cases lodged against him after last month’s labour unrest and violence in Noida.“It raises questions concerning compliance with constitutional safeguards governing arrest and personal liberty, as well as the validity of the subsequent custody and remand proceedings,” it said.The press note further stated that following the high court’s directive, the outcome of the proceedings is likely to be closely watched by the legal fraternity, civil liberties advocates and media organisations, given the intersection of preventive detention powers and constitutional protections.Verma was arrested on April 17 from the Jan Chetna bookstore in Lucknow. As reported by The Wire earlier, on May 14, the Uttar Pradesh police invoked stringent provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) against him and activist Akriti Choudhary.Some of the grounds cited in the habeas corpus petition challenging Verma’s arrest by the Uttar Pradesh police and remand granted by the magistrate include the absence of an arrest memo specifying the grounds of arrest, the place of arrest being shown as Noida even though he was picked up from Lucknow, and his detention by the police for more than 40 hours without any transit remand or production before a magistrate.Tiwari, an advocate from the team of lawyers handling Verma’s case, told The Wire, “The court has accepted the matter for hearing now and the state has asked for time to file a reply.”“The state has been asked to respond to the grounds as mentioned in the habeas corpus petition. We can file a rejoinder to their counter [response by the state]. We have been given the right to rebut points likely to be mentioned in the counter as part of our rejoinder,” Tiwari added.The next hearing in this case has been scheduled for July 13.Verma has been made an accused in connection with three FIRs filed by the Noida police registered in April.Another writ petition filed at the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution – which says individuals have the right to approach the apex court seeking enforcement of other fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution – on behalf of Verma’s wife challenging the invocation of the NSA is scheduled for a hearing on July 18.“Our contention has been that he’s been a journalist and he wasn’t in Noida [on the day of incident]. There isn’t evidence on paper to show his [Verma’s] complicity anywhere,” said Tiwari.Speaking to The Wire about the habeas corpus petition challenging the grounds of Verma’s arrest, Tiwari said: “He’s just a journalist who was simply reporting on the issue and now you [referring to the investigation agency] can’t say that by reporting news someone is complicit in the crime that has happened. A war correspondent can’t be blamed for reporting on war and claim that war broke out because of that person.”