cong-protest-at-ai-summit-court-sends-4-accused-to-police-custody

A Delhi court on Saturday sent the four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers to five-day police custody. They  were arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue a day ago.Judicial Magistrate Ravi granted the Delhi Police's request for custodial interrogation of the accused on Saturday.

 

The arrested individuals were Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC state secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC state president, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana.

 

It was reported that Delhi Police sought the five-day custody, stating that the protesters raised anti-national slogans and wore T-shirts with objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the event venue.It said the mobile phones of the accused persons were required to be recovered and, as they were from different states, custodial interrogation was necessary. Police alleged anti-national slogans were made,  T-shirts with objectionable content were displayed , and attempt to obstruct the activities were made.

 

Counsel for the police argued that it was a "serious" matter. An attempt was made to stop the police, following which three personnel were injured, he said.Besides, the conspiracy behind organising the protest, the source of funding and where the T-shirts were printed needed to be ascertained, the counsel said.

 

 

 The counsel appearing for the arrested protesters argued that they were associated with a political party and had exercised their democratic right to protest peacefully. The counsel for the accused argued that they  had exercised their democratic right to peaceful protest at Bharat Mandapam. It also said the arrests made shows selective action towards democratic protests.

 

He said there was no footage proving that they attacked police officers, nor any evidence that an anti-national speech was made.

 

The advocate claimed that their arrest greatly diminished the dignity of democracy and that if arrests are to be made for protesting, then MPs protesting in Parliament should also be arrested.