The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to withdraw their petition challenging the extension of their judicial custody, leaving their next legal step dependent on a fresh hearing before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM).
The petition had challenged the SEM’s October 19 order remanding the two leaders to two days of judicial custody. The High Court permitted the withdrawal without making any observations on the merits of the case. During the hearing, the court orally observed that a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution was not an appropriate remedy in the matter.
Das and Ranka were taken into custody on October 13 after they allegedly climbed over a locked gate to enter the Jantar Mantar area. The site had earlier been de-notified as a designated protest location. According to Delhi Police, the protesters allegedly entered the area through private premises and obstructed police personnel from discharging their official duties.
The two leaders, along with other CJP workers, had displayed the national flag and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before they were detained and placed under preventive arrest. They were initially sent to five days of judicial custody by a Special Executive Magistrate on October 14.
A newly appointed SEM at Mandir Marg police station later ordered their judicial remand until October 21 after they were produced before the court on October 19. The CJP has described the extension as “absurd” and alleged that the bail proceedings were being deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its co-convenors. The allegations were reported by The Hindu and were not independently assessed in the supplied material.
The case is also linked to the transfer of two cases involving Das and Ranka to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. One of the cases concerns their alleged entry into the Jantar Mantar area. The Crime Branch will now investigate both matters, according to the report.
The Delhi High Court matter was heard during the court’s Dussehra vacation, when the court is otherwise shut for the week. The CJP leaders are expected to decide their further course of action after the SEM hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Separately, Justice Subramonium Prasad is scheduled to hear a petition by All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora against a Delhi Police notice requiring her to appear before an SEM. The October 17 notice, issued under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, asked Bora to show cause why she should not execute a personal bond of ₹10,000 with one surety for keeping peace during the period of inquiry.
Bora was placed under preventive detention on October 16 and released the next day after a group was stopped from participating in the CJP’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march. AISA has said her petition seeks an immediate stay and withdrawal of the notice, which it describes as ambiguous and factually incorrect. The next SEM hearing is the immediate procedural milestone in the custody case.
