‘Political Dissent, Not Violence’: Court Grants Bail To 9 Over Youth Congress AI Summit Protest

Last Updated:March 02, 2026, 18:28 IST

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Ravi of the Patiala House Court on Sunday ordered the release of the nine Youth Congress members.

A Delhi court has granted bail to nine Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists arrested over protests at last month’s AI Impact Summit, ruling that their actions “constituted symbolic political critique" rather than “recidivist violence or organised crime."

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Ravi of the Patiala House Court on Sunday ordered the release of the nine Youth Congress members.

In a detailed order, the court noted, “The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during, a public event: T-shirts with leadership imagery, non-inciteful slogans bereft of communal/regional taint, and transient assembly. No evidence discloses property defacement, or delegate panic; exit was orderly via escort."

The court further observed that prolonged pre-trial detention without any investigative necessity violated the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, Bar and Bench reported.

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“Pre-trial detention, severed from any imperative necessity and devoid of persisting investigative demands, ineluctably devolves into an illicit premptive punishment antecedent to conviction," it said.

The IYC members staged the protest on February 20 inside the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam. Some activists removed their shirts to reveal T-shirts with slogans such as “PM is compromised" and criticisms of the India-US trade deal, before chanting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies.

Delhi Police have so far arrested fourteen activists in connection with the case, accusing them of breaching security and raising alleged “anti-national" slogans. The prosecution argued the protest posed a threat to national security, international relations, and national integrity.

The protest was peaceful, symbolic, and protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, the the lawyers appearing for the activists stated.

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