The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday welcomed the release of its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka from judicial custody, with party founder Abhijeet Dipke describing the two as "much, much bigger leaders" than himself and expressing his willingness to follow their directions.
The two leaders were released following an order by a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) in connection with their detention over a protest at Jantar Mantar earlier this month.
In a social media post, Dipke praised Das and Ranka and expressed his admiration for their leadership.
"Saurav and Ashu are not just better but much, much bigger leaders than me. Happy to follow your orders, my leaders. Jaan hazir hai!" he wrote.
He also added a light-hearted remark in Hindi, saying, "Lekin iske baad mere bina garden mein koi akela nahi ghumega!!! (But after this, don't go alone in the garden without me)."
In another post, Dipke shared a photograph of Das and Ranka with the caption "My leaders".
𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
CJP's legal head Ratna Singh welcomed the magistrate's order but maintained that the decision should have been taken earlier.
"We welcome the decision. I think this decision should have been taken long ago, but it is not too late," Singh said.
According to Singh, Delhi Police had sought a five-day extension of the leaders' judicial custody, citing an imminent threat to public order.
However, the defence argued that there was no immediate threat and that neither leader had issued any fresh call for a protest.
"You cannot take that as an assumption and extend the judicial custody. The SEM has taken that on record," she said.
Singh maintained that apprehensions about possible future demonstrations could not, by themselves, justify extending the detention.
𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁
Das and Ranka were initially remanded to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after being detained for allegedly entering the denotified protest site at Jantar Mantar and violating previously executed peace bonds.
Their judicial custody was subsequently extended by two days on October 19.
The case arose from protests concerning restrictions on demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court declined to interfere with their judicial custody and asked them to await the SEM court's decision.
The high court also indicated that the leaders could approach the appellate court if their grievances persisted.
𝗖𝗝𝗣 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗖 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Asked about the high court's observations, Singh said the judge was entitled to express an opinion but the party did not necessarily agree with it.
"They have given their opinion. It is an observation, an oral observation. There was no discussion on the merits in the court," she said.
Singh emphasised that the legal team's immediate priority had been securing the release of Das and Ranka after a week of efforts.
"We were here today for the release of Saurav and Ashutosh, for which we had been trying for the past week. Finally, that has happened," she said.
The party's legal head also described the atmosphere within CJP as emotional following the release order.
"The team is also very emotional right now. They also want to meet them because everyone has not met them for a long time," she said.
Singh expressed hope that no person's liberty would be curtailed in the future over issues involving sureties or procedural technicalities.
She said the release order had been forwarded and the party members were looking forward to meeting the two leaders.