Court denies bail to 4 Youth Cong workers
Were held for protest at AI Summit venue
A Delhi court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers arrested for staging a shirtless protest during the India AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam here on February 20, describing the demonstration as a “blatant assault on public order” that endangered the country’s diplomatic image.
Four Youth Congress workers - Krishna Hari, Kundan Yadav, Ajay Kumar and Narasimha Yadav - were sent to five-day police custody yesterday.
In his order, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Ravi of the Patiala House Court noted that the accused had orchestrated a premeditated intrusion into the high-security venue, donned provocative T-shirts bearing offensive slogans such as India US Trade Deal Compromised, and vociferously raised incendiary chants against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and government policies.
The court observed that their actions obstructed public servants in discharging their duties and caused grievous injuries to police personnel present at the venue.
“Such conduct palpably transcends the ambit of legitimate dissent, metamorphosing into a blatant assault on public order. It imperils not only the sanctity of the event but also the Republic’s diplomatic image before foreign stakeholders,” the court stated.
Rejecting the bail plea, JMFC Ravi noted that the accused hailed from different parts of the country, raising the possibility of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. The court further clarified that while the right to protest and dissent is enshrined in Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, it is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order, sovereignty and decency under Articles 19(2) and 19(3).
Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Amit Sahni vs Commissioner of Police, which dealt with protests at Shaheen Bagh, the magistrate stressed that fundamental freedoms cannot extend to causing public inconvenience or unlawfully occupying public spaces. “Protests must balance the rights of demonstrators with those of others under Article 21 and should be conducted only at designated places, even with prior permission,” the court noted.
