NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday sent Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib to four-day police custody in connection with a protest at the India AI Impact Summit.
Judicial Magistrate Ravi allowed four days of custody to the police to question Chib over his role in the AI Summit protest, during which IYC members took their shirts off to reveal anti-Modi and anti-Centre slogans on t-shirts beneath.
The accused opposed the prosecution's remand plea, denying no "riot-like situation" was created and calling the allegations an attempt to "insert riots everywhere."
They said those present were unarmed and beaten, questioning the need to recover t-shirts through custody.
Terming it a "simple case of criticism," the accused asked, "Can we not even handle criticism?" and argued there was no common intention to assault police or threaten the nation's sovereignty.
The counsel for the IYC president submitted that his client was not present at the spot and had already been interrogated, calling the remand plea "frivolous and irrelevant" as he asked the prosecution to show any prima facie conspiracy.
Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava countered that the accused, though not physically present, was "communicating and monitoring each and everything" and was the "mastermind."
He said the knowledge that the act could lead to a riot-like situation was sufficient and that as IYC president, he bore "additional responsibility."
The protest happened at India's artificial intelligence conclave, the AI Impact Summit-2026, at Bharat Mandapam.
The summit began on February 16 and saw packed halls and long queues throughout, as tech moguls, industry leaders, policymakers, and founders thronged the venue.
On Friday, police arrested Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar, state president of Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana for holding a 'shirtless protest' inside an exhibition hall at the Summit.
The accused wore t-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, with slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal.
The protesters also allegedly engaged in a protracted scuffle with security personnel and police staff deployed at the venue.