Shirtless protest: Court reserves order on Delhi Police plea for custody of arrested IYC workers
In this image taken on February 20, 2026, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers carry out a ‘shirtless protest’ by walking around with slogan t-shirts in their hands at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Photo: IYC via PTI Photo
A court in Delhi on Saturday (February 21, 2026) reserved its order on the police’s plea seeking five-day custody of four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers who were arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue a day earlier.
The arrested IYC employees were brought before Magistrate Ravi, who took the order after the completion of their defense.
The arrested protesters were Krishna Hari, national secretary of the Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC state secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC state president, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana.
Delhi Police has sought five-day detention of the protesters, who were arrested for chanting anti-national slogans and wearing T-shirts with objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The accused’s counsel argued that they belonged to a political party and were exercising their democratic right to protest peacefully at the Bharat Mandapam.
He said there was no footage proving they attacked police officers and there was no evidence of an anti-national speech being made.
The court is expected to give its decision soon.
It was published – 21 February 2026 13:49 IST
