Delhi HC restores bail to IYC chief in case of shirtless protest at AI Summit

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday put on hold an order by an Additional Sessions Judge, which stayed the order granting bail to Indian Youth Congress (IYC) President Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the shirtless protest at AI summit.

A bench of Justice Saurabh Banerjee stayed the order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge on February 28 and revived the order of bail granted by the duty magistrate on the same day.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Chib, submitted that the sessions judge, while passing the order, has misinterpreted the judgment of the Supreme Court in Parvinder Singh Khurana Vs Directorate of Enforcement (2024)

He also submitted that the finding rendered by the magistrate in the order was in a bail application moved by the applicant. Since the said order was interlocutory in nature, no revision under Section 438 of the BNSS was maintainable before the sessions court, he said.

The state counsel, on the opposite, submitted the sessions judge has not decided the matter finally and only as an ex parte interim order of stay has been granted during the pendency of the proceedings before it.

The matter has been posted for further consideration on March 06, 2026, he said.

Relying upon Parvinder Singh Khurana case, the counsel submitted that any ex parte interim order of stay passed by a court of law need not have specific reasons.

Upon hearing the counsel, the High Court said, ''The impugned order prima facie, reflects that though the said order has been passed based on the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Parvinder Singh Khurana, however, the stay has been granted by merely recording that “It seems from the above said discussion that it is a rare and very exceptional case where the situation demand…” without according as to what is the “… … rare and very exceptional case”.

The court thus stayed the sessions court's order and fixed the matter for consideration on April 1, 2026.