The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has moved the Delhi High Court against the continued detention of its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, seeking an urgent hearing and their release from Tihar Jail. The petition challenges a Special Executive Magistrate’s decision to extend their custody to seven days after their arrest during protests at Jantar Mantar.
The party has alleged that the detention violates the leaders’ fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. It has asked the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to take up the matter urgently, including the possibility of a night hearing, according to the petition reported by The Indian Express.
Das and Ranka were arrested on October 14 for allegedly breaching security and entering Jantar Mantar during the protests. On Monday, the Special Executive Magistrate extended their custody by two days. The order, signed by SEM Ritu Raj, an ACP-rank officer with the Delhi Police, said the two men’s conduct did not inspire “confidence”, that they had “no respect for law” and that they had habitually called for protests at a de-notified site.
The CJP has disputed the process leading to the continued detention. Its petition says the two leaders were first detained on October 10 after arriving at Delhi Airport and were detained again on October 13 for allegedly carrying the national flag at Jantar Mantar. On October 14, the Special Executive Magistrate allegedly remanded them to judicial custody without specifying the duration of custody or the amount of the bond, the party has claimed.
The petition further alleges that bank-verified sureties and fixed deposit receipts were submitted by the party’s counsel on October 16 and 19, but were rejected on what the CJP described as “trivial pretexts”. The party has also claimed that two additional sureties with valid bonds and fixed deposit receipts were present but were not considered.
In its legal challenge, the CJP has cited the Delhi High Court’s ruling in Aldanish Rein vs State of NCT of Delhi. The party argues that detainees should be released on personal bonds while the verification of sureties is pending. It has also challenged the custody extension under Section 135(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, alleging that the Special Executive Magistrate relied on police applications despite there being no registered First Information Report.
The petition describes the executive action as arbitrary and procedurally flawed and argues that the order was passed mechanically, contrary to established Supreme Court jurisprudence on preventive action. The legal challenge places the use of preventive powers in Delhi’s protest-management system before the High Court, although no decision on the petition had been reported at the time of publication.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh said the party saw no justification for keeping the two leaders in custody for seven consecutive days. She alleged that the grounds cited by the Special Executive Magistrate had been mechanically adopted from police applications and that the continued detention infringed the leaders’ fundamental rights.
The matter now awaits consideration by the Delhi High Court, including a decision on the party’s request for an urgent hearing and immediate release of Das and Ranka.
