Shirtless protest: Delhi court sends 3 IYC workers arrested from Shimla to 3-day police custody
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday sent three accused brought to the capital after a dramatic 24-hour standoff with the Shimla police following their arrest in the hill state over the shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit here last week to three-day police custody.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta passed the order on Delhi Police’s plea seeking five-day custodial interrogation of the three accused Youth Congress activists.
The magistrate said the accused trio needs to be produced in court on completion of their police remand on March 1.
The accused were produced in the court amid heavy security arrangements.
During the proceedings, the public prosecutor said that Saurabh and Arbaz Khan from Uttar Pradesh, and Sidharth Avdhut of Madhya Pradesh were “hiding in Himachal Pradesh”, and that they were arrested from a resort around 6:40 am on Wednesday.
The prosecutor said the trio was produced before a magistrate in Shimla around 1:40 pm the same day, who allowed Delhi Police’s plea seeking transit remand, and directed their production in the Delhi court concerned within 18 hours.
He said that while Sidharth designed the T-shirt displayed by the Youth Congress workers at the Summit venue on February 20, Saurabh created a WhatsApp group. Saurabh and Arbaz were present during the protest, he said.
“More than one lakh T-shirts were printed… We need to find the printing source, ascertain the origin and mechanism of the conspiracy, confront them with the co-accused, effect recovery, find the names of others involved…,” the prosecutor said.
The counsel for the accused claimed Delhi Police had engaged in “witch-hunting” by arresting those carrying out a peaceful protest.
“No recovery has been effected, there is non-compliance with rules. If you see the FIR, it mentions the same sentence as in the JNU case: ‘Tukde-Tukde’. What kind of precedent are we setting?” the advocate asked.
He also claimed that “political targeting of certain people belonging to the main opposition party.
“They are trying to set an example for political parties,” the counsel said.
The court also extended the police remand by three days of two other accused, Ajay Kumar and Raja Gujar, arrested earlier and produced in court on Thursday on completion of their three-day police custody.
The arrests sparked a high-voltage standoff between police teams of Delhi and Shimla, which ended after a dramatic 24 hours on Thursday morning, when the Delhi Police team was finally cleared to head back to the capital along with the three accused.
In the stalemate, the Delhi Police team was "detained" for about five hours even after procuring transit remand from the ACJM.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
