A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court in Delhi on Wednesday ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after accepting the sureties furnished by them, bringing their judicial custody to an end.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj, acting as the Special Executive Magistrate, passed the release order after reconsidering the sureties submitted by the two activists. The Delhi Police had earlier sought a further three-day extension of their custody.
The release came hours after the Delhi High Court declined to entertain their challenge to the extension of custody and advised them to await the outcome of the proceedings before the SEM court.
Das and Ranka had approached the High Court challenging the October 19 order extending their judicial custody by two days. They contended that their continued detention was illegal, arguing that the magistrate had wrongly rejected the sureties furnished on their behalf and directed them to produce fresh ones.
During the hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad questioned the maintainability of the petition and indicated that the activists should pursue the remedies available under law before the appropriate forum. The judge suggested that they withdraw the plea for the time being, given that the SEM court was scheduled to reconsider their sureties later that day. Advocate Abhik Chimni, appearing for the petitioners, agreed to the suggestion, following which the petition was withdrawn.
The High Court also questioned the activists’ conduct in allegedly violating an earlier undertaking to maintain peace. The proceedings concerned preventive action initiated against them after allegations that they had breached the conditions imposed upon them and attempted to enter Jantar Mantar despite the site having been de-notified as a designated protest venue.
Das and Ranka were detained by Delhi Police on October 13 after they allegedly climbed the gates of the barricaded Jantar Mantar site. They were remanded to judicial custody for five days on October 14. On October 19, the SEM court extended their custody by two days, citing concerns over a possible breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquillity.
In its October 19 order, the SEM court had observed that the activists’ conduct raised concerns about their willingness to abide by the law and that their assurance against repeating the alleged conduct did not inspire confidence. It also referred to what it described as a pattern of calling for protests at locations that were no longer designated protest sites.
The magistrate had rejected the sureties after finding them unsuitable. The order recorded discrepancies between the photograph on one surety’s bond and his Aadhaar card, as well as his inability to produce another valid identity document or provide satisfactory answers during verification. The other surety was found unable to furnish basic details about Das. The magistrate concluded that the sureties had not demonstrated their ability to ensure the activists’ presence before the court when required.
Before the High Court, the petitioners challenged both the extension of their custody and the rejection of their sureties. They argued that the magistrate had relied on the police’s allegations without independently assessing whether continued detention was warranted. They also contended that a protest at a de-notified site was, at most, an issue of regulating public assemblies and could not automatically be treated as a threat to public order.
With the SEM court accepting the sureties on Wednesday, the activists were ordered to be released. The High Court petition had been withdrawn without an adjudication on the merits of their challenge to the October 19 order.
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