Delhi HC Says ‘Application of Mind’ Needed in Stay of Bail Orders

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a sessions court order that had halted the bail granted to Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the AI summit protest case.

A Bench of Justice Saurabh Banerjee was hearing a petition filed by Chib challenging the February 28 order of the sessions court, which had put an interim stay on a magistrate court order granting him bail.

Observing that the sessions court order lacked clarity, the High Court said, "Some application of mind has to be there. If there is no application of mind, the order has to be stayed."

The court termed the matter as being treated as a "rare and exceptional" case and questioned the absence of reasoning in the order. "Where is reasoning in this order? You see page one. Turn over the page. Where is reasoning or finding?" Justice Banerjee asked.

In its order, the sessions court had stated, "When the court exercises the power of granting ex parte ad interim stay of an order granting bail, the court is duty-bound to record reasons why it came to the conclusion that it was a very rare and exceptional case where a drastic order of ex parte interim stay was warranted."

Following the High Court’s decision restoring the bail, Chib’s counsel told the media that they were awaiting the physical copy of the order and that he was likely to be released on Monday.

On February 24, the trial court had remanded Chib to four days’ police custody after his arrest in connection with a protest by IYC workers at the India AI Impact Summit on February 20.

According to the case, IYC workers entered the summit venue wearing and holding white T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans including "India-US Trade Deal", "Epstein Files" and "PM is compromised". A scuffle reportedly took place between the protesters and security personnel and police deployed at the venue.