‘No application of mind’, says Delhi HC as it stays sessions court order halting IYC chief’s bail in AI Summit protest case
A Bench of Justice Saurabh Banerjee was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief’s lawyer challenging the sessions court order, which remained a magistrate court order granting bail to Chib.
“There must be some reasoning. If there is no reasoning, the decision must be postponed,” the high court said.
In ordering the hearing, he noted that the trial court decision was unclear in its findings and described it as a “rare and exceptional” case.
“Where is the reasoning in this sequence? You see the first page. Turn the page. Where is the reasoning or finding?” Justice Banerjee asked.
On February 28, the sessions court decided to temporarily suspend the bail granted to Chib by the magistrate court.
In its decision, the court said: “When the court exercises its power to grant a unilateral temporary stay of an order granting bail, the court is obliged to record the reasons for its conclusion that this is a very rare and exceptional case in which a strict unilateral temporary stay is necessary.” Speaking to the media after the high court restored Chib’s bail, his lawyer said that they were waiting to receive a physical copy of the verdict and most likely the IYC chief would be released from jail on Monday.
On February 24, the court sent Chib to police custody for four days.
He was arrested in connection with the “shirtless” protest by IYC workers at the India AI Impact Summit on February 20.
IYC workers entered the AI summit venue wearing white T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump and slogans such as “India-US Trade Agreement”, “Epstein Files” and “Prime Minister compromised”.
Protesters also clashed with security guards and police teams working at the scene.
