‘Shirtless’ protest: Not legitimate dissent, blatant assault on public order, says Delhi court

The conduct of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue was not legitimate dissent, rather a “blatant assault on public order” that also hurt the country’s “diplomatic image”, a Delhi court said.

Judicial Magistrate Ravi made the observation on Saturday when the four IYC workers who were held for the “shirtless” protest at the Bharat Mandapam here were produced before his court. The court allowed five days of custody to the police to question them.

Summarising the reasons for allowing the Delhi Police’s plea seeking custodial interrogation, the magistrate said that the accused hailed from remote parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, posing a high risk of their absconding.

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This was “further heightened by early investigation findings suggesting external conspiracy links, the court said.

A portion of the order passed by judicial magistrate Ravi, accessed by PTI, said that the protest imperilled or jeopardised not only the event’s sanctity, but also the country’s diplomatic image.

“…the accused persons are alleged to have orchestrated a premeditated intrusion into the high-security precincts of Bharat Mandapam during the Al Summit 2026, a premier international conclave hosting global delegates and dignitaries,” the court’s order said.

It said the protestors allegedly “donned provocative T-shirts bearing offensive slogans such as ‘India US Trade Deal Compromised’, vociferously raised incendiary chants, obstructed public servants in the execution of their duties, and perpetrated physical assaults causing grievous injuries to police personnel, as substantiated by the medico-legal cases (MLCs) on record.”

The magistrate said, “Such conduct palpably transcends the ambit of legitimate dissent, metamorphosing into a blatant assault on public order. It imperils not merely the event’s sanctity but also the Republic’s diplomatic image before foreign stakeholders, rendering it wholly unprotected by constitutional safeguards.”

The magistrate said the probe reveals that multiple associates could be absconding, which could tamper digital footprints, financial trails, and co-accused disclosures.

Citing a 1980 Supreme Court verdict, the magistrate said, “Bail discretion must safeguard investigation integrity, particularly pre-chargesheet.”

He also underlined that the alleged offences “warranted stringent scrutiny” as they posed a grave threat to public order and state security at an international forum and attracted punishment exceeding three years of imprisonment under BNS Sections 121 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy).

“In view of the above, the application, for police custody remand of all four accused persons is allowed for five days with effect from today, i.e., till February 25,” the magisterial court said.

India hosted the world’s largest artificial intelligence conclave, the AI Impact Summit-2026. The summit that began February 16 has seen packed halls and long queues, as tech moguls, industry leaders, policymakers, founders, and technologists thronged the Bharat Mandapam here.

On Friday, police arrested Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar, state president of Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana for holding a ‘shirtless protest’ inside an exhibition hall at the Summit.

The accused and others were holding T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal.

They also allegedly engaged in a protracted scuffle with security personnel and police staff deployed at the venue.