The Delhi High Court on Wednesday permitted Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to withdraw their petitions challenging an order extending their judicial custody, after advising them to pursue the remedies available under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
Justice Subramonium Prasad permitted the withdrawal after questioning why the petitioners had invoked the High Court’s writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution when a statutory remedy was available to challenge the Special Executive Magistrate’s order.
The Court suggested that the petitioners await the outcome of the proceedings scheduled before the Special Executive Magistrate later in the day and approach the appropriate appellate or revisional forum if their grievance persisted. It clarified that the withdrawal would not entail any adjudication on the merits of their challenge.
The petitions assailed an October 19 order passed by the Special Executive Magistrate extending the judicial custody of Das and Ranka by two days, until October 21. The two CJP leaders had been detained on October 13 in connection with a protest at Jantar Mantar, where the protesters allegedly entered a site that had ceased to be a designated protest venue.
During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel, Advocate Abhik Chimni, argued that preventive custody could not be imposed arbitrarily and questioned the legality of the magistrate’s order. The challenge also raised objections to the rejection of the sureties furnished by the petitioners.
Justice Prasad questioned whether the insistence on sureties could, by itself, be characterised as unlawful when the authorities alleged that the petitioners had breached an earlier peace bond. The Bench also indicated that the statutory framework provided a mechanism to challenge an order requiring security for maintaining peace or rejecting a surety.
The Court referred to Section 414 of the BNSS, which provides for an appeal against orders requiring security for keeping the peace or good behaviour, as well as orders refusing or rejecting sureties. It suggested that the petitioners consider the remedy available under the provision before pursuing their constitutional challenge.
The Bench’s observations centred on the distinction between the availability of writ jurisdiction and the propriety of exercising it when an alternative statutory remedy exists. The petitioners were advised to allow the proceedings before the magistrate to conclude before deciding on their further legal course.
Following the Court’s suggestions, Chimni sought instructions and subsequently withdrew the petitions. The High Court allowed the withdrawal without expressing any opinion on the legality of the custody order or the merits of the petitioners’ allegations.
The proceedings arose from the extension of the two leaders’ custody in connection with protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Their challenge concerned the legality of the preventive proceedings and the continued deprivation of their liberty.
The High Court’s order leaves the petitioners at liberty to pursue remedies available under law if their grievance remains unresolved.
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