‘Political dissent, not organised crime’: Court grants bail to IYC protesters
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Sunday granted bail to nine Indian Youth Congress (IYC) members who were arrested for protesting during the India AI Impact Summit last month, observing that their actions amounted to “political dissent” and not organised crime, Bra and Bench reported.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Ravi of the Patiala House Court granted bail to 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.
“The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event: T-shirts with leadership imagery, non-inciteful slogans bereft of communal or regional taint, and transient assembly. No evidence discloses property defacement or delegate panic; exit was orderly via escort,” said the court.
The court further held that prolonged pre-trial detention without investigative necessity violates the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Earlier, the prosecution had argued that the protests by the IYC members posed a threat to national security, international relations and national integrity by disrupting a high-profile global event.
However, the court said that none of the offences invoked against the accused carried a maximum punishment exceeding seven years. It also rejected the police’s argument that the sentence may run consecutively.
The court termed the police’s argument “bereft of jurisprudential moorings at this interlocutory bail juncture, where the judicial gaze is riveted not on the mirage of potential conviction but on the stark realities of pre-trial liberty”.
“Pre-trial detention, severed from any imperative necessity and devoid of persisting investigative demands, ineluctably devolves into an illicit pre-emptive punishment antecedent to conviction, a profound aberration fundamentally at odds with the bedrock axioms of criminal jurisprudence, which exalt liberty as the governing norm and incarceration as the narrowly circumscribed exception,” said the court, as reported by Bra and Bench.
The IYC members had staged a shirtless protest during the India AI Impact Summit on February 20. Some of the protesters wore T-shirts with slogans that read “PM is compromised”.
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Mangaluru: Four-way waste segregation rolled out under new rules
Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has begun implementing the revised Solid Waste Management Rules 2026, which came into effect nationwide from April 1, making four-way waste segregation mandatory for all residents and establishments.
According to Deccan Herald, under the new system, waste must be segregated into four categories before being handed over to collection vehicles:
1. Wet waste such as kitchen refuse, fruit and vegetable peels, leftover food, meat waste, flowers and leaves.
2. Dry waste including plastic materials, bottles, paper, cardboard and rubber
3. Sanitary waste comprising used sanitary pads, diapers, condoms and bandages
4. Special care or domestic hazardous waste such as used batteries, LED bulbs, tube lights, paint containers, pesticide bottles and thermometers.
MCC Commissioner Ravichandra Naik said wet and sanitary waste will be collected daily, while dry and hazardous waste will be collected once a week (Fridays) to improve efficiency in handling different waste streams.
The corporation has also introduced stricter norms for bulk waste generators, defined as establishments producing more than 100 kg of waste per day, or having a built-up area exceeding 20,000 square metres, including offices, malls, hospitals and large residential complexes, as well as units consuming over 40,000 litres of water daily, will be treated as bulk waste generators and will be subject to stricter norms.
The MCC warned that violations of segregation rules will attract penalties under the Solid Waste Management Bye-laws, 2019, and urged citizens to strictly follow the new system.
For further information, citizens have been advised to contact or visit the Health Department of the corporation during office hours, said the commissioner.
To encourage sustainable practices, the civic body has also launched an initiative recognising zero-waste weddings. Recently, Commissioner Ravichandra Naik honoured Veerendar and Suraksha for conducting an eco-friendly wedding at Rajatadri auditorium in Vamanjoor on March 30.
The MCC in its X handle said "the wedding embraced a zero waste, plastic free and eco friendly concept."
At the ceremony, no plastic bottles were used; guests were served drinks in steel tumblers. No tissue papers were distributed during the programme. Ice cream was served in cups made of arecanut sheets. The stage was decorated with flowers and eco-friendly reusable decorative materials.
Eco-Friendly Wedding: A Green Start!
— ಮಂಗಳೂರು ಮಹಾನಗರ ಪಾಲಿಕೆ | Mangaluru City Corporation (@mangalurucorp) March 31, 2026
Hon'ble Commissioner Sri Ravichandra Naik, KAS, presented an appreciation letter to the couple Suraksha-Veerendra for their noble initiative. Their wedding at Vamanjoor (30-03-2026) embraced a Zero Waste, Plastic-Free, & Eco-Friendly concept. pic.twitter.com/Rlf8piTDUN
