Shirtless Protest: Delhi Court Sends 4 Youth Congress Leaders To 5-Day Police Custody

Judicial Magistrate Ravi of the Patiala House Courts allowed the Delhi Police’s plea seeking custodial interrogation of the accused. A detailed order is awaited.

The four arrested protesters: Krishna Hari, National Secretary of the IYC from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC State Secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC State President, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana, were produced before the court amid heavy security arrangements.

According to the prosecution, the accused raised anti-national slogans and wore T-shirts displaying objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the event. The police informed the court that the matter was “serious” and required custodial interrogation to recover the mobile phones of the accused and to ascertain the larger conspiracy behind the protest.

The investigating agency further submitted that the four individuals hail from different states, making custodial questioning necessary to determine the source of funding, the organisation of the protest, and where the T-shirts were printed. The prosecution also alleged that when police attempted to intervene, an effort was made to obstruct them, resulting in injuries to three personnel.

The accused have been booked under provisions relating to voluntarily obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duty and other sections pertaining to defiance of lawful public order. Sources indicated that the invoked offences are non-bailable in nature.

Opposing the custody plea, counsel for the arrested leaders argued that they are members of a recognised political party and were exercising their democratic right to protest peacefully. The defence submitted that criminalising political dissent diminishes the dignity of democracy. It was further argued that if protesting warrants arrest, then similar standards should apply to Members of Parliament who stage demonstrations inside Parliament.

The incident stems from a protest staged by members of the Indian Youth Congress at the venue of the AI Impact Summit, where participants allegedly removed their shirts to reveal slogans reading “Compromised PM”.

In a statement, the IYC maintained that its workers were protesting against what it termed a “compromised Prime Minister who has traded the identity of the country at the AI Summit”.

The episode has also triggered political reactions. Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged protests in multiple states condemning the Youth Congress action. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari criticised the Congress party, stating that the country would not forgive what he described as an act that sent a wrong signal during an international summit attended by representatives from over 80 countries.

Members of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Delhi similarly held demonstrations denouncing the protest.

Bench: Judicial Magistrate Ravi