New Delhi, February 28 – In a dramatic turn of events, the President of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Uday Bhanu Chib, was granted bail in a midnight hearing related to the shirtless protest at the AI Summit. However, within hours, another Delhi court put the decision on hold until March 6 on Saturday, a lawyer said.
While Judicial Magistrate First Class Vanshika Mehta had granted the IYC President bail at midnight, noting that he was not a flight risk, a sessions court imposed restrictions on his bail until March 6 in response to a plea filed by the Delhi Police on Saturday afternoon, the lawyer added.
The sessions court will hear the matter on March 6, and until then, Chib is likely to remain in judicial custody.
While granting bail, the Patiala House Court's duty magistrate stated that no person should be deprived of personal liberty solely on conjecture or primarily because the co-accused have not yet been arrested.
The magistrate granted bail to Chib on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and ordered him to surrender his passport and electronic devices to the court.
Just before the bail was granted by the magistrate, the Delhi Police Crime Branch had filed an application in the court late Friday night seeking a seven-day extension of Chib's police custody.
Following the defense lawyer's bail application, the duty magistrate granted Chib relief and bail, stating that the Crime Branch failed to provide sufficient reasons for the extension of his remand.
The granting of bail to the IYC President by the magistrate around midnight was welcomed by the Congress on Saturday, which claimed that "truth and justice have prevailed".
However, by Saturday evening, an interim restriction was imposed on the IYC's bail until March 6.
According to the grounds of arrest, Chib has been accused of being the main conspirator in organizing an unlawful assembly on February 20 at the Bharat Mandapam during the AI Impact Summit and Expo 2026, where slogans were raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and alleged attempts were made to incite a riot-like situation.
Chib was arrested after nearly 15 hours of questioning at the Tilak Marg police station in connection with the shirtless protest held on the final day of the India AI Impact Summit.
The protest had triggered a political row after the Bharatiya Janata Party criticized the Congress demonstration as an attempt to tarnish India's global image, while the Congress defended it as a peaceful protest reflecting the concerns of the youth.