CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka move Delhi HC against judicial custody

• Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have challenged a two-day extension of their judicial custody.

• The CJP leaders allege that authorities delayed the acceptance and verification of their sureties.

• They were detained on 13 October after allegedly entering Jantar Mantar, a denotified protest site.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking an urgent hearing against the extension of their judicial custody, alleging violations of legal procedure and their constitutional right to liberty.

The two leaders sought a night hearing as the high court is closed this week for the Dussehra vacation.

A newly appointed special executive magistrate at Mandir Marg police station on Monday ordered their judicial remand for another two days after they were produced before him.

Das and Ranka were taken into custody on 13 October after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site. They were subsequently sent to five days of judicial custody.

“We have moved the Delhi High Court and requested an urgent night hearing. Saurav and Ashutosh should not spend a single minute behind bars. Their liberty must not be curtailed because of political games. Justice must not wait,” CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh said in a post on X.

The party has alleged that bail proceedings were deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its two co-convenors.

In their petition, Das and Ranka challenged the special executive magistrate's order extending their judicial custody, describing it as illegal and arbitrary. They argued that their continued detention violated Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty.

The petition claimed that the two leaders had remained in custody for six days despite submitting the required sureties multiple times.

It further alleged that the mandatory procedure under Section 140 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was not followed while rejecting the sureties.

The plea also challenged the magistrate's exercise of powers under Section 135(3) of the BNSS to extend their judicial custody. It argued that the basis for continued detention — failure to execute a bond — was no longer valid because the sureties submitted on 19 October allegedly complied with the law.

The petition also contended that restricting the leaders' liberty on grounds of public order required a direct and demonstrable connection with an actual disturbance, rather than a remote possibility.

It argued that holding a protest at a denotified site was, at most, a matter of regulation and did not automatically constitute a threat to public order.

On 13 October, Das and Ranka, along with other CJP workers, displayed the national flag at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest.

A special executive magistrate had initially remanded the two leaders to five days of judicial custody on 14 October.

Their associate Ajinkya Shinde was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months and released on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 5,000.

Delhi Police has alleged that the protesters entered the denotified site by trespassing through private premises and obstructed police personnel from discharging their official duties.