Police denies permission for Delhi Youth Congress protest at Jantar Mantar amid AI Summit row

New Delhi: Amid a row over the 'shirtless protest' at the AI Impact Summit by Indian Youth Congress (IYC), police on Wednesday denied permission to its Delhi wing to hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar on February 26, citing short notice and prevailing law and order concerns.

The Delhi Youth Congress (DYC) had called the dharna on Thursday against the police action on IYC members who had taken part in the February 20 protest.

In a communication dated February 25, the police informed the DYC that the request to hold a protest/dharna from 12 pm to 4 pm on February 26 had been rejected, an official said.

The letter said that the application, received on February 24, was submitted at "short notice" and did not conform to existing guidelines mandating that requests for protests be made at least 10 days in advance of the proposed date.

"It is to inform you that your request to hold a protest/dharna at Jantar Mantar has been received in this office at short notice, which doesn't conform to the existing guidelines," the communication read.

The police also cited the "present scenario in Delhi from law & order point of view" and guidelines framed and connected civil appeals, to assert that the permission "could not be acceded".

The rejection comes amid heightened security in the national capital following the February 20 'shirtless protest' at Bharat Mandapam during the AI Impact Summit, a high-profile international event attended by dignitaries and delegates.

Three more Congress workers were taken into custody from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh in connection with the summit protest, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 12, the police said earlier in the day.

In its letter rejecting the February 26 protest, the police requested the organisers to "co-operate with the Delhi Police".

There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi Youth Congress on the denial of permission.