New Delhi, Oct 18: The bail hearing of Cockroach Janta Party co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka was delayed on Sunday, with the outfit's legal affairs head alleging that the Special Executive Magistrate failed to arrive at the scheduled hour and that four sureties submitted for their release had been turned down on unclear grounds.
Ratna Singh, who heads the legal cell of the satirical political outfit, said she had been waiting at the Mandir Marg police station since 11 in the morning while the hearing was fixed for noon. In a series of posts on X through the afternoon, she said the magistrate had still not reached the police station by 4.42 pm, describing the situation as deeply worrying for the two men who have remained in judicial custody since October 14.
"This is really concerning. They have rejected 4 sureties till now on vague reasons. They have made people who have FIRs against them for being part of protest as people having criminal antecedents," Singh wrote. In a separate post, she added, "At Mandir Marg police station since 11 AM, waiting for the SEM to preside. The hearing was scheduled for 12PM. Unfurling the Indian National Flag is not a crime, and the boys should not remain in custody due to procedural delays."
Speaking to the media later in the day, Singh said every formality on the party's side stood completed, including verification of the sureties, yet the hearing did not move forward in the expected manner. She said the magistrate was present in the police station premises by the early afternoon but did not enter the courtroom until around 5 pm, and alleged that he declined to examine the question of their release on its merits, instead making remarks she described as arbitrary.
The Hindu's live coverage of the day's developments separately reported that the magistrate was said to have concentrated on an alleged threatening message rather than on the arguments for release. There was no response from the police to the allegations, according to multiple reports.
Das and Ranka were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after they scaled the locked gates of Jantar Mantar, which the authorities have de-notified as a designated protest site, and unfurled the Tricolour there alongside twelve others. The group was taken into custody on Tuesday. While the party's national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde and eleven others were let off, the two co-convenors were subjected to preventive action and placed in judicial custody.
The episode has become a flashpoint in the continuing confrontation between the Delhi Police and a growing coalition of protesters agitating against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Singh had claimed on Saturday that the two could not come out because the investigating officer turned up at 6 pm for a hearing listed at 2 pm.
With the five-day custody period drawing to a close over the weekend and no extension plea filed by the police, the party had expected the release to be processed on Sunday. Instead, the day unfolded as a prolonged wait inside the police station, with Singh posting regular updates on the absence of the magistrate.
Anticipating trouble, the outfit had on Saturday announced that it had consulted senior advocate Kapil Sibal and would pursue legal action if the two were not released by Sunday. "If Ashu and Saurav are not released by tomorrow, we will pursue legal action against all those who deliberately ensured that they continue to be in illegal custody, especially when they have not committed nor been charged with any offence," the outfit had said in a post on X.
The developments surrounding the CJP come alongside a widening protest movement in the national capital. The party, founded by Abhijeet Dipke, first came to attention with its demonstrations against the former education minister over the NEET paper leak controversy, and has since joined the larger campaign demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Dipke himself was released on Saturday on conditional bail, a day after being detained on his way to Connaught Place for the party's 'Lehra do Tiranga' march and subsequently arrested. One of the conditions of his bail bond is that he must ensure there is no breach of peace on his part for a period of one year.
After his release, Dipke said he was waiting for his fellow leaders to be freed and told the media that the outfit would gather, reassess its strategy and decide its next course once Das and Ranka were out.
Dipke also alleged that the arrest papers in his case were served to him at 3.30 in the morning, a remark he used to question the conduct of the Delhi Police in the matter.
The Delhi Police also lodged three first information reports over the 'Lehra do Tiranga' march, according to the live coverage. Separately, Neha Bora, the national president of the All India Students Association, was detained on Friday but released after overnight detention following the completion of formal procedures under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.
The protests have drawn in student groups, opposition parties and civil society voices, all pressing the demand that the Chief Election Commissioner step down and that the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls be suspended. Reports that two Election Commissioners had raised objections to decisions of the poll body intensified the agitation; the Election Commission of India has, in a statement, maintained that all of its decisions are unanimous.
On Sunday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, addressing a public meeting in Margao during the Congress's 'Goy Rakhon Yatra' in Goa, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would face justice and pay the price over what he termed 'vote chori'. He also criticised the use of pellet guns against student protesters.
The Congress on Sunday said the Election Commission's decision to provide readable electoral rolls to political parties was the outcome of nationwide protests, and repeated its demand that Gyanesh Kumar must go and the SIR be suspended immediately. The party also appointed 208 leaders as observers to coordinate its nationwide 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao' campaign against the revision exercise.
Student and youth organisations kept up their own pressure through the day. The National Students' Union of India, the Congress's student wing, held an 'Ungli Toh Uthegi - Hallabol March' towards Jantar Mantar led by its national president Vinod Jakhar, demanding the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation. The Indian Youth Congress, in a post on X, alleged police brutality against students and warned of strict legal action against those it accused of wrongdoing in uniform.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the government was taking away people's right to vote and protest, remarks that drew a sharp response from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. BJP leaders, including spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and MP Tarun Chugh, accused the opposition of defaming constitutional institutions.
Beyond the capital, the agitation showed signs of spreading. The CJP staged a demonstration in Pune demanding the scrapping of the SIR, while farmers' organisations under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha announced a march to Delhi on October 23 to press the demand for the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation.
The Supreme Court is also watching the fallout of the protests. It has agreed to hear academician and columnist Apporvanad Jha, who has submitted that equating the right to peaceful protest with a breach of peace is unwarranted and a ploy to enable preventive detentions. His written submissions were filed as part of a criminal writ petition challenging the legality of prohibitory orders issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
In another development, the apex court recently issued notices to the Centre on a petition by the Association for Democratic Reforms challenging the lifelong immunity granted to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners for actions taken in the discharge of their official duties.
As the day closed, there was still no confirmation of the release of Das and Ranka, and Singh's last updates indicated that the uncertainty surrounding their bail continued. The outfit has said it will now decide its next legal steps after consulting its counsel, keeping its threat of court action alive if the two co-convenors remain behind bars.
(Reporting based on Hindustan Times and The Hindu.)