Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were ordered to be released by a Delhi Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court on Wednesday after their sureties were accepted.
The two activists were detained by Delhi Police on October 13 after they climbed the gates of the barricaded Jantar Mantar protest site. They were remanded to judicial custody for five days on October 14, with the SEM court extending their custody by another two days on October 19.
Before Wednesday’s release order, the police had requested that their judicial custody be extended by three more days. However, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj, who was acting as the SEM, accepted the sureties furnished by the two activists and ordered their release after they were produced before the court at the end of the extended custody period.
The October 19 order had raised concerns over the activists’ conduct. The SEM court had observed that they showed “no respect for the law” and that there were serious apprehensions about their ability to maintain peace and tranquillity. It had also referred to “habitualness” in connection with their calls for protests in de-notified areas. The sureties submitted on that date were rejected after the court found them unfit.
Das and Ranka had also moved the Delhi High Court against the October 19 custody order. They later withdrew their writ petition after Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the SEM court was already hearing the matter on Wednesday. The judge said the activists could pursue a revision plea if they failed to obtain relief from the SEM court.