A special executive magistrate in Delhi has ordered the release of the leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das, who had been detained on grounds of violations entering Jantar Mantar a day after its denotification as the main protest site and waving national flags.
Ranka and Das, who are the spokespersons of CJP, had scaled the locked gates of Jantar Mantar on October 13 and waved flags and raised slogans against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in the protest against SIR. This act was recorded as a breach in the peace bond signed by the duo after being detained on October 10. The spokespersons were initially produced on October 14 before a special executive magistrate, who sent them for five days in judicial custody. The custody was later extended by two days on Monday.
Later on Wednesday, the two leaders withdrew their petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the extension of their judicial custody after Justice Subramanian expressed his inclination to entertain the writ petition. In their plea, Das and Ranka alleged that the magistrate had rejected their sureties in violation of the law and curtailed their constitutional rights to liberty.
CJP head of legal affairs Ratan Singh had earlier demanded their release. She claimed the arrest as injustice, refuting, rejecting the reports that the leaders had signed a bond, a peace bond, or that their lawyers intended to challenge the police notice before the High Court. She said the peace bond was not issued before the magistrate. She also alleged that the magistrate remained on the phone inside the courtroom for three hours while writing the order. She also disputed police claims that the leaders’ release posed a threat to the peace.
Keyphrase: CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das released
Tags: Cockroach Janata Party, Ashutosh Ranka, Saurabh Das, Delhi High Court, Jantar Mantar, Gyanesh Kumar, SIR Protest, Judicial Custody, Delhi News, Special Executive Magistrate