Delhi court grants bail to 9 Indian Youth Congress workers in AI Summit protest case

A Delhi court has granted bail to nine Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers arrested in connection with a “shirtless” protest at the AI summit, observing that the demonstration amounted to symbolic political critique and that pre-trial detention could amount to “illicit pre-emptive punishment”.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravi passed the order on Sunday while hearing the bail pleas of Krishna Hari, Narshimha Yadav, Kundan Kumar Yadav, Ajay Kumar Singh, Jitendra Singh Yadav, Raja Gurjar, Ajay Kumar Vimal alias Bantu, Saurabh Singh and Arbaz Khan.

“The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event: T-shirts with leadership imagery, non-inciteful slogans bereft of communal/regional taint, and transient assembly. No evidence discloses property defacement, or delegate panic; exit was orderly via escort,” the court said.

It further noted that pre-trial detention, “severed from any imperative necessity and devoid of persisting investigative demands, could illicit pre-emptive punishment antecedent to conviction”.

“(This would be) a profound aberration fundamentally at odds with the bedrock axioms of criminal jurisprudence, which exalt liberty as the governing norm and incarceration as the narrowly circumscribed exception,” the court said.

Opposing the bail pleas, Delhi Police submitted that while the Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protest, it is subject to conditions.

The police alleged that the accused raised slogans describing the India-US trade deal as a compromise in the presence of international media and attacked police personnel when stopped, causing injuries.

Medical evidence supports the claim, police said.

The IYC workers allegedly entered the AI summit venue on 20 February wearing or holding white T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans such as “India-US Trade Deal”, “Epstein Files” and “PM is compromised”.

The protesters also allegedly scuffled with security personnel and police staff deployed at the venue.