CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka move Delhi HC against custody …
CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have approached the Delhi High Court seeking an urgent hearing against the extension of their judicial custody following disputed surety rejections.
- Headline: CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka move Delhi HC against custody …
- Dispatch Summary: CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have approached the Delhi High Court seeking an urgent hearing against the extension of their judicial custody following disputed surety rejections.
- Verification: Corroborated across independent reporting outlets with primary sources and real-time wire transmissions.
Cockroach Janta Party co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court seeking an urgent hearing against the extension of their judicial custody, alleging violations of due process and their constitutional right to liberty. The leaders sought a night hearing even as the high court remains closed this week for the Dussehra vacation. The legal challenge targets an October 19 decision by a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at the Mandir Marg police station that rejected fresh sureties and prolonged the detention of both leaders under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
That emergency petition brings a dramatic confrontation over political dissent, preventive detention powers, and procedural rights straight to the capital's highest bench. As the high court prepares to take up the matter on October 21, the Delhi Police has escalated the underlying inquiry by transferring a second case registered against the two leaders to the Crime Branch.
Detention Triggers And Jantar Mantar Protests
The sequence of detentions began on October 10 when Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained upon arriving at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Preventive proceedings were initiated against them the following day, after which they were released on executing bonds of 50,000 each. The situation escalated on October 13 when the two leaders, accompanied by Ajinkya Shinde and 11 other CJP members, arrived at Jantar Mantar carrying the national flag. According to Delhi Police, the group allegedly bypassed heavy barricading, climbed a locked gate, and trespassed through private premises to enter the venue.
The protest occurred just a day after the Delhi Police denotified central Delhi as a designated site for protests and demonstrations. During the demonstration, participants raised slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has denied allegations of political bias in the revision process.
Police personnel deployed at the spot intervened and attempted to stop them, detained all 14 individuals, and registered two FIRs in connection with the incident. Das and Ranka were subsequently shown as arrested under Sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS on October 14 and remanded to five days of judicial custody. That initial five-day judicial custody ended on Monday, October 19, setting the stage for the contested custody extension.
Surety Rejections And Legal Arguments
When the initial five-day custody period ended on Monday, defense counsel submitted fresh sureties along with required identity verifications and fixed deposit receipts. The Special Executive Magistrate rejected these submissions after questioning each surety for 15 minutes, citing discrepancies between photographs on the documents and Aadhaar cards, identity verification concerns, and doubts about whether the sureties could control the leaders' actions. The magistrate then extended their custody until October 21 under Section 135(3) of the BNSS, citing apprehensions of a breach of peace.
In their writ petition, Das and Ranka contend that the magistrate's order contains no independent assessment of the threat and instead adopts the investigating officer's application. Citing the Delhi High Court's judgment in Asha Pant v. State (2008), their petition argues that mechanically adopting police material makes the exercise of power vulnerable to invalidation. They further cite the 2018 Delhi High Court judgment in Aldanish Rein v. State of NCT of Delhi, which held that an arrested person should be released on a personal bond after submitting surety bonds, pending verification. The petition states that two additional sureties, with duly executed bonds and fixed deposit receipts, were present but were not given an opportunity to submit them.
| Legal Principle / Citation | Petitioner's Argument | State Position |
|---|---|---|
| Aldanish Rein v. State (2018) | Must release on personal bond during surety verification | Sureties can be rejected if found unsatisfactory after inquiry |
| Asha Pant v. State (2008) | Magistrate cannot mechanically adopt police threat applications | Custody extension justified by apprehension of public disorder |
| Article 21, Constitution | Continued detention despite submitted bonds violates personal liberty | Preventive detention necessary to stop further protests at denotified sites |
Defense lawyers maintained that the statutory procedure governing surety rejections was ignored and that the leaders were kept locked up simply out of fear that they might exercise their right to protest. CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh criticised the October 19 order as “absurd”. I think the SCM courts should be abolished because they have been compromised. There is no apprehension here, no threat. There has been no call from our end, and yet they were sent to two days of judicial custody,
Singh said, addressing the press on Monday. Singh also alleged that the magistrate remained on the phone inside the courtroom for three hours while writing the order.
Escalation To The Crime Branch
While the leaders' legal team pressed for urgent relief before the high court, law enforcement authorities moved to intensify the investigation. The Delhi Police on Tuesday transferred another case registered against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to the Crime Branch, taking the number of cases against the two leaders being investigated by the unit to two, reported PTI quoting police sources. The other case against Das and Ranka, linked to their alleged entry into the Jantar Mantar area, was transferred to the Crime Branch on Monday.
The state has consistently opposed the release of the CJP leaders, citing concerns over public order, alleged violations of protest restrictions, and the possibility of further mobilisation. Defence counsel countered that the state provided no factual basis or statement on record to support claims of an imminent threat, noting that holding a protest at a denotified site should be treated as a matter of regulation rather than automatically considered a threat to public order. The leaders have also pointed out that the decision to denotify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site has been challenged before the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court.
That leaves the executive magistracy defending a preventive detention order built on disputed surety rejections, while two Crime Branch files deepen an accountability battle that will test the boundaries of peaceful assembly during court vacation hours on October 21.
