Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka will have to stay in Tihar jail at least till Wednesday after a Delhi Special Executive Magistrate’s court on Monday extended their judicial custody by two more days while rejecting the Delhi police demand for five day extension of the custody.
The court had earlier in the day reserved its order on the police’s request to extend their custody. A petition seeking the release of the two leaders was also filed before the court on Monday, but the decision was reserved after the hearing. Das and Ranka were initially sent to five days of judicial custody following their preventive arrest. The CJP has also accused authorities of deliberately prolonging the “illegal arrest” of Das and Ranka by “delaying court proceedings” and alleged that bail sureties had been rejected on “vague” grounds, even as police registered a non-cognisable report over “threats” received by the magistrate hearing the matter.
The two were arrested for entering Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, which was recently denotified as a designated protest site, by scaling its locked gates. They were detained on October 13 and sent to five days of judicial custody the next day.
Both Ranka and Das were presented before a Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station for the proceedings before being taken back to Tihar Jail. They will next be produced on Wednesday. “What we witnessed today was nothing short of a circus. An inquiry should be conducted into the way people’s liberty is being crushed and how things are being handled here.
“There was absolutely nothing presented today to justify such concerns. During the hearing and arguments, our advocates spoke entirely about the law. Not once did the other side provide any argument that could suggest there was any apprehension of future protests or any breach of peace,” the party’s legal head, Ratna Singh said.
“Throughout the proceedings, only provocative statements were made. Even the SDM had to wait for three hours and was on the phone the entire time. This is the first time I have seen something like this myself,” she added.
The CJP has alleged that authorities were deliberately delaying proceedings to prevent the release of its leaders. The CJP has maintained that the two leaders entered the premises to unfurl the national flag and raise slogans, while the party has continued to challenge the decision to remove Jantar Mantar’s status as a designated protest site.
“The entire atmosphere here is deeply concerning. I think SDM courts should be abolished because they are compromised. They have rejected the sureties. Advocates were explaining the law here that if the sureties are under verification, that alone cannot be grounds to keep someone in judicial custody. There is no apprehension here, no threat, and there has been no call from our side. Yet they were sent to judicial custody for two days,” Ratna Singh said.
“I feel that this entire system is being used to crush us, but I don’t think it is going to succeed. The youth of this country are watching. They can see how power is being used and how the law is being misused to curb voices,” she added. Ratna Singh had earlier accused the Delhi Police and state authorities of obstructing the proceedings before the Special Executive Magistrate, alleging that a hearing scheduled for noon was delayed by several hours.
“Ashu and Saurav’s first crime was waving the Tiranga at Jantar Mantar. Their second crime? Refusing to back down. Even after five days in jail, they walked into court with smiles on their faces, their spirits unbroken,” CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke posted on social media. The arrests took place against the backdrop of the CJP’s campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On Saturday, the party said it had consulted senior advocate Kapil Sibal and warned that it would initiate legal action if Ranka and Das were not released by Sunday. In a post on X, the CJP said: “If Ashu and Saurav are not released by tomorrow, we will pursue legal action against all those who deliberately ensured that they continue to be in illegal custody, especially when they have not committed nor charged with any offence.” “The deliberate use of delaying tactics to keep them behind bars cannot go unchallenged. Those responsible will be held accountable,” the party added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police registered a non-cognisable report (NCR) against unidentified persons on Sunday over an alleged threat to a magistrate during the bail hearing of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. The party has alleged that the release of its two leaders is being delayed and that the guarantees provided by four bail sureties were rejected for unclear reasons.
On Monday the Special Executive Magistrate, hearing their bail matter, had claimed that unknown persons were threatening him, following which the police registered a non-cognisable report. In a post on X, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had alleged, “The state is deliberately prolonging Ashu and Saurav’s illegal arrest by using every dirty trick in the book to delay court proceedings and prevent their release. “They have no legal grounds to keep them behind bars, so they are resorting to delaying tactics to keep them there.”