NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday stayed the bail granted to Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the recent shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit here, saying it was a “rare and exceptional case” warranting an ex parte interim stay.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal was hearing a plea by Delhi Police challenging a magistrate court’s order granting bail to Chib, which said the right to life and liberty was the “soul of the Constitution”.
In its order, the sessions court said, “When the court exercises the power of granting ex parte ad interim stay of an order granting bail, the court is duty-bound to record reasons why it came to the conclusion that it was a very rare and exceptional case where a drastic order of ex parte interim stay was warranted.”
The court said it seemed from the facts presented before it that it was a rare and very exceptional case where the situation demanded passing an ex parte order staying the magistrate’s order.
Special public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava submitted before the court that Chib was one of the main conspirators of the protest and that the key accused persons were still absconding.
He argued that no formal bail application was filed on Chib’s behalf and that neither the state nor the investigating officer (IO) was given the opportunity to respond before the bail was granted.
Shrivastava contended that Chib’s custodial interrogation was required to confront the accused with the co-accused persons and digital evidence, including communication trails, WhatsApp groups, internal instructions, CCTV footage and alleged financial coordination.
Taking note of the submissions, the sessions court stayed the bail order and issued a notice to Chib for further hearing on March 6.
Chib was produced before the magistrate at her official residence at around 1 am after his four-day police custody came to an end.
The police sought a three-day extension of his custody, contending that further interrogation was required to ascertain the whereabouts of two co-accused.
Dismissing the plea, the magistrate court said the right to life and liberty was the “soul of the Indian Constitution” and that to curtail liberty, a strong explanation or material evidence must be placed on record to show that denial of custody would impede the course of justice.
In a handwritten order, the magistrate said the investigating officer was unable to provide cogent reasons for seeking further police custody of Chib.
“Being guilty or not is a matter of trial, and the law takes its own course to adjudicate such. However, what is relevant is whether the custody of the accused is required at this stage,” the court said, noting that Chib has strong roots in society and is not a flight risk.
On February 24, the court sent Chib to police custody for four days. He was to be questioned about his role in the protest at the Bharat Mandapam on February 20, during which Indian Youth Congress (IYC) members took off their shirts to reveal anti-government slogans printed on their T-shirts underneath.
The protesters wore T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, with slogans against the government and the India-US interim trade deal. The protesters also allegedly engaged in a protracted scuffle with the security personnel and police deployed at the venue. (PTI)