NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday granted time to nine Indian Youth Congress (IYC) members to file their replies on the police plea against the bail granted to them in connection with the AI summit protest case.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma directed the accused—Krishna Hari, Narshimha Yadav, Kundan Kumar Yadav, Ajay Kumar Singh, Jitendra Singh Yadav, Raja Gurjar, Ajay Kumar Vimal alias Bantu, Saurabh Singh and Arbaz Khan—to file their response by April 23, the next date of hearing.
The court passed the order after the accused said they needed time to go through the police application to file replies. The court also sought details of the police plea against the bail granted to IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib. The matter, which was scheduled to be heard on Friday, was adjourned after the court was informed that it’s currently pending before the High Court.
A magisterial court had granted bail to the nine accused persons in the case, saying the protest constituted symbolic political critique and pre-trial detention could “illicit pre-emptive punishment”. The court had said,
“The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event.” It noted that there is no evidence that discloses property defacement or delegate panic stating that exit was orderly via escort.
Custody of blast accused extended
A Delhi court extended NIA custody of two accused persons—Tufail Ahmed Bhat and Zamir Ahmed Ahangar—arrested in the Red Fort blast case by five days. They were produced before the court on expiry of their custodial interrogation.