A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded Indian Youth Congress President Uday Bhanu Chib to four days in police custody in connection with the ‘shirtless protest’ at AI Impact Summit last week, observing that investigation prima facie indicated the accused’s role in monitoring the offence.
The order was passed by Judicial Magistrate Ravi of Patiala House Court.
The court said that the disclosure of the co-accused and the details of the arrest memo, prima facie indicated that the accused operated from behind the scenes by giving directions and monitoring the protest.
The court said that at the present stage, such incriminating material could not be discarded merely on the ground that the accused was not physically present at the place of occurrence.
The order emphasised, “The law recognises that conspiracy and abetment can be hatched and executed from a distance and that the absence of physical presence does not, by itself, exonerate a person from criminal liability”.
The court also dismissed the argument put forth by the defence counsel, claiming that recovery of T-shirts used in the protest was trivial.
It said that the alleged T-shirts bore specific slogans and formed an integral part of the alleged plan of protest, both for identification of participants and conveying the intended message.
The court acknowledged that the mobile phone data of the accused persons was essential to unearth the larger conspiracy and that the present accused refused to share the password of his phone which would reveal the conversation he had with the co-accused persons.
The court said that the initial seven days’ custody as sought by prosecution was excessive and much of the on-spot investigation has already been carried out by police.
The court also allowed the accused to meet his counsel during the course of the investigation, without hampering the progress of the case.
During the hearing, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava argued that the accused had conceptualised the protest and gave directions to the other accused for execution of the plan, which he was closely monitoring.
He further argued that one of the co-accused Shree Krishna Hari, kept the present accused informed about the sequence of events.
Meanwhile, the accused, represented by Advocate Sanjay Ghose, submitted that the accused was not present at the spot and had no knowledge of the T-shirts worn by the accused persons.
Meanwhile police said that offences under BNS sections 191(1) (rioting) and 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) have also been added during investigation. “Based on the investigation so far, this crime has been committed as part of a deep-rooted conspiracy…we have got solid evidence of it,” Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Devesh Chandra Srivastava said.