The judicial custody of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka was extended by two days on Monday by a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM), even as their legal team sought their release after submitting sureties on record. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for October 21.
Das and Ranka were detained on October 13 and sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14 in connection with an alleged trespassing incident at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The two leaders will remain in custody following Monday’s order, with their release application expected to come up at the next hearing on October 21.
Advocate Abhisht Hela, who is representing the CJP leaders, had earlier questioned the decision to send Das and Ranka to judicial custody, alleging that the authorities had disregarded the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
Their lawyers have now submitted the sureties and urged the authorities to release them. Basically no ‘Upar se orders’.” Because their sureties were not available on the day of their detention, the CJP legal team had filed an application seeking the release of the two leaders, who were initially sent to custody.
Ratna Singh, Das and Ranka were scheduled to appear before the SEM at 2 pm on Monday following the expiry of their initial five-day judicial custody, according to the party’s legal affairs head. Expressing concern over delays in the proceedings, Singh said in a post on X, “I sincerely hope there will be no further delays — no IO switching off phone for hours, no threatening messages, no hearing at 6 PM, no tyre puncture to be not able to produce them.
