The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a sessions court order that stayed the release of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bano Shib, who was arrested on February 24 as the “key conspirator” behind a shirtless protest at the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam.
The Supreme Court said the Sessions Court granted an interim stay on Shipp’s release without explaining why this was necessary.
Duty Magistrate Vanshika Mehta released Shipp on bail on the afternoon of February 28 when he was produced after four days in police custody. But the bail order was stayed by Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal later in the evening at the request of the prosecution without hearing Shipp.
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Shipp appealed the court order to the Supreme Court, which is currently closed over the Holi holiday and will reopen on March 9. Justice Saurabh Banerjee held a special session to hear his plea on Monday and temporarily stayed the court order.
“Where is the logic in this order (sessions court order)? As per my little understanding, the order should be stayed. There is no reason to come to this conclusion. I am not disputing the overall position, action or catch as far as the whole actual situation is involved. There has to be some application of mind…. Where is the exception? It has been seldom made that there is a need to grant some interim stay? The order should be stayed as there is no application. Prima facie, I am dissatisfied with the order,” Justice Banerjee told Additional Solicitor General DB Singh and Standing Counsel Sanjay Lau, who reported for Delhi Police.
“Since there is no clear reflection on the applicability of the Parvinder Singh Khurana judgment, there will be a stay of the order passed on February 28,” Justice Banerjee said, after passing a short order.
The sitting court noted in its order that the judge’s order constitutes a rare and exceptional case that justifies granting a unilateral stay of execution. It also set March 6 as the next hearing date and issued notice to Chip.
Senior lawyers Siddharth Luthra and Salman Khurshid, who represented Shib, said the order was passed without a hearing and they did not give any reasons for the decision.
Describing Delhi Police’s conduct in the case as “shocking”, Luthra said the police had refused to provide a copy of the application seeking police custody when Shib appeared before a judge for the second time.
On the other hand, Delhi Police lawyers said the case is still under investigation and the Sessions Court has already issued notice and is yet to take a decision on the application.
Shib was arrested on February 24 in connection with his role in the protest at Bharat Mandapam, where Congress members removed their shirts to display slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government. He was remanded in police custody for four days in connection with the February 20 protest at the India AI Impact Summit.
On February 20, approximately 15 to 20 members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) allegedly entered the summit venue and removed their shirts, revealing pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump along with the captions “PM at risk” and “India-US trade deal”.
The protest by 15-20 IYC members was held on February 20 at 12:30 pm during a global event and lasted about 10-15 minutes.
The Delhi Police registered an FIR under the provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including criminal conspiracy, causing hurt and assault to a public servant, disobeying orders of a public servant, unlawful assembly, and violating prohibitory orders.
Special Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Devesh Chandra Srivastava later said that the incident appeared to be part of a deliberate conspiracy and that the police had strong evidence against the accused.
