New Delhi: Five hours of waiting for a hearing that lasted barely ten minutes. That is how Sunday unfolded for the Cockroach Janta Party, whose leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka remain in judicial custody in Delhi after the latest attempt to secure their release fell through at the Mandir Marg police station.
The two were detained on October 13 after they scaled the locked gates of Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site, and were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14. Six days after their detention, they are still behind bars, and the party says the system is being used to keep them there.
The long wait at Mandir Marg
The bail hearing was scheduled for noon on Sunday at the Mandir Marg police station, where the Special Executive Magistrate was to take up the release plea. According to the party’s legal head Ratna Singh, she had been at the station since 11 am, but the magistrate, who also serves as an Assistant Commissioner of Police, had still not arrived by 4.42 pm.
ABP Live reported that the CJP team waited nearly five hours while Special Executive Magistrate Mahesh Kumar Meena reached the station between 1.30 pm and 2 pm, but the hearing itself began only around 5 pm and wrapped up in eight to ten minutes. The release of the two leaders remained unresolved.
The party says it has been submitting surety bonds since October 15 and completing every formality demanded of it, yet officials keep raising fresh objections. Four sureties furnished for the two leaders were rejected on what the party called vague grounds.
A threat claim, and a fresh FIR
The hearing took a sharp turn when the magistrate said he had been receiving threats and described mental harassment, according to ABP Live’s report. Police told the proceedings that the CJP leaders were planning another protest, while the public prosecutor said the matter required investigation.
Soon after, Delhi Police registered a non-cognisable report against unidentified persons for allegedly threatening the magistrate, an offence relating to criminal intimidation, PTI reported on Monday morning. Further details of the alleged threats and the people behind them were not immediately available.
The CJP has questioned the threat claim. Its legal head said the public prosecutor had not appeared for four days and arrived only on the fifth, adding that he showed no interest in discussing the case or releasing anyone.
How the case began at Jantar Mantar
The detention traces back to October 13, when Das and Ranka entered Jantar Mantar by climbing over its locked gates. The monument had been denotified as a designated protest site, and police treated their entry as trespass. They were produced before the Special Executive Magistrate and sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14.
Since then, the party says, every bail formality has been met and then some, with surety after surety returned over fresh objections. The party calls the arrests illegal, a charge the police have not accepted.
What happens next
The CJP is not waiting quietly. Founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X that the state was deliberately prolonging the leaders’ custody, saying the authorities had “no legal grounds to keep them behind bars” and were using “every dirty trick in the book to delay court proceedings”.
On Saturday, the outfit said it had consulted senior advocate Kapil Sibal and warned of legal action against those who, in its words, deliberately ensured the two leaders stayed in custody. Ratna Singh called the handling of the case an “absolute misuse of power” by the SEM court.
With the threat complaint now under police investigation and the bail matter still open, the case is set to stay in the headlines through the week.
FAQs
Who are Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka?
They are leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a political outfit founded by Abhijeet Dipke. Both are currently in judicial custody in Delhi.
Why were they detained?
Police say the two scaled the locked gates of Jantar Mantar on October 13, after the site was denotified as a designated protest ground. They were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14.
What happened at Sunday’s bail hearing?
The CJP team waited several hours at Delhi’s Mandir Marg police station for a hearing that lasted only minutes. The magistrate cited threats he said he had received, police registered an FIR against unidentified persons, and the leaders’ release remained unresolved. The party says four sureties were rejected on vague grounds.
What is the CJP planning now?
The party says it consulted senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Saturday and has warned of legal action if the two leaders are not released. It has also accused the authorities of deliberately delaying the proceedings.
This is a developing story. We will update it as the court proceedings move forward.
