Delhi HC stays order halting IYC chief Chib’s bail

The Delhi High Court stayed a sessions court order that halted the bail of Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib in the AI summit protest case. The court said the order lacked proper reasoning and showed no application of mind

New Delhi: In a relief to Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, the Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a sessions court order that had halted his bail in the AI summit protest case.

A bench of Justice Saurabh Banerjee was hearing a petition filed by the counsel of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief challenging the sessions court order, which had stayed a magistrate court order granting bail to Chib.

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“Some application of mind has to be there. If there is no application of mind, the order has to be stayed,” the high court said.

It noted that the sessions court order was not clear in its findings while putting a stay and called it a “rare and exceptional” case.

“Where is the reasoning in this order? You see page one. Turn over the page. Where is the reasoning or finding?” Justice Banerjee asked.

On February 28, the sessions court put an interim stay on the bail granted to Chib by the magistrate court.

In its order, the sessions court had 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.”

Speaking to the media after the high court restored Chib’s bail, his counsel said they were waiting to receive a physical copy of the order and that, most probably, the IYC chief would walk out of jail on Monday.

On February 24, the trial 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 and holding white T-shirts with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump printed on them, along with slogans such as “India-US Trade Deal”, “Epstein Files” and “PM is compromised”.