Delhi High Court Restores Bail To Indian Youth Congress President Detained In AI Summit Protest Case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has lifted the stay on bail granted to Indian Youth Congress (IYC) President Uday Bhanu Chib, who was arrested for leading a shirtless protest at the India AI Impact Summit. A magistrate court initially granted Chib bail on February 28, but the order was stayed by a Sessions Court later that day. The High Court, led by Justice Saurabh Banerjee, ruled that the Sessions Court's order was passed without proper consideration and lacked reasoning. 

Justice Saurabh Banerjee of the Delhi HC criticised the Sessions Court's order, stating it was passed without proper consideration and lacked reasoning. "The question is, is there any application of mind? If there is no application of mind, the order has to be stayed," Justice Banerjee remarked. He observed that the Sessions Judge acknowledged bail can only be stayed in rare and exceptional cases, but failed to justify why this was such a case. 

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Chib, submitted that the police assailed the Magistrate’s bail order by filing a revision petition before the Sessions Court. He argued that the Sessions Judge had misconstrued the Supreme Court’s ruling in Parvinder Singh Khurana. 

Luthra maintained that since the Magistrate’s order was interlocutory in nature, a revision under Section 438 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was not maintainable before the Sessions Court. He further pointed out that the Sessions Court granted the impugned order ex parte and that the police had not furnished them with a copy of the revision petition

Advocate Luthra expressed shock at the police's actions, saying, "They did not supply us with a copy of the revision petition. The order is passed ex parte. A revision is moved. Am I not eligible to get a copy? This is shocking." The High Court has issued notice on Chib's plea and stayed the Sessions Court order till the matter is decided. Chib was taken into custody on February 23 and granted bail by a magistrate's court on February 28. However, the same day, a Sessions Court stayed the bail order after an urgent hearing.

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid represented the IYC president in the case in the Delhi High Court.

In its order, the High Court stated, "The question is, is there any application of mind. If there is no application of mind, the order has to be stayed. He (sessions judge) is recognising that only in rare and exceptional cases the stay of bail can be granted, but where is the application of mind that it is a rare and exceptional case? I will be very frank with you, the order has to be stayed because there is no application of mind. Please see the order, the first line says you are asking for a stay, and in the last line, he has granted a stay…..In the facts of the case involved, there shall be a stay of the order passed by the sessions court."

The protest at the India AI Impact Summit involved IYC members removing their shirts to display slogans against the prime minister and the central government. Chib was arrested as the main conspirator and remanded to police custody for 4 days. The Delhi Police had sought an extension of his custody, claiming he was uncooperative and didn't disclose the co-accused's details.