New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI): The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) accused authorities of deliberately prolonging the “illegal arrest” of party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka by delaying court proceedings and alleged that bail sureties had been rejected on “vague” grounds, even as police registered a non-cognisable report over “threats” received by the magistrate hearing the matter.
The CJP leaders remained in judicial custody after they were arrested for entering Jantar Mantar, which was recently denotified as a designated protest site, by scaling its locked gates. They were detained on October 13 and sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said in a post on X, “The state is deliberately prolonging Ashu and Saurav’s illegal arrest by using every dirty trick in the book to delay court proceedings and prevent their release.”
“They have no legal grounds to keep them behind bars, so they are resorting to delaying tactics to keep them there,” he added.
The CJP’s legal head Ratna Singh also accused Delhi Police and state authorities of obstructing proceedings before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM), alleging that the hearing scheduled for noon was delayed for hours.
There was no response from police on the allegations.
Addressing the media after the day’s proceedings, Singh said the SEM and the public prosecutor arrived around 5.30 pm. She alleged that the proceedings were diverted to a purported threatening message received by the magistrate instead of addressing the release of the two leaders.
“The Public Prosecutor, who failed to appear for four consecutive days, suddenly arrived today and attempted to divert the proceedings toward an alleged threatening message,” Singh said.
She said the CJP’s lawyers had asked the magistrate to identify the sender of the message and initiate action against the person concerned, but their submissions were not heard.
“Our lawyers have said that if someone has threatened you, you should take action against them. Put their number in the order. Tell us their name,” Singh said.
She questioned why an alleged threatening message should affect the proceedings concerning Das and Ranka, adding that no verification or supporting documentation had been placed on record.
“What does this have to do with Ashutosh and Saurav’s case?” she asked.
Delhi Police registered a non-cognisable report against unidentified persons for allegedly threatening the Special Executive Magistrate.
A non-cognisable report is generally registered for offences in which police cannot arrest an accused without a warrant or investigate without the permission of a magistrate, as prescribed by law.
Details about the alleged threats and the persons involved were not immediately available.
CJP legal head Singh also alleged that the verification of sureties furnished for the two leaders had been delayed and four sureties rejected on “vague” grounds. She questioned the need for further approval of a fixed deposit receipt bearing a bank stamp.
“Nothing on record with respect to verification. Nothing on record with respect to Saurav and Ashutosh,” she said.
Accusing the authorities of deliberately prolonging the detention of the two leaders, Singh said, “The conspiracy that they have made – that Ashutosh and Saurav should not be released was completely visible today. We all saw it. Today, there was no discussion on the case. There was no argument on merit.”
“This is an illegal arrest. This is a conspiracy by the state. This is a conspiracy by the Delhi Police that they want to keep Saurav and Ashutosh in jail,” she alleged.
Singh said the lawyers had been waiting for hours and questioned the repeated delays despite approaching the lower court as directed by higher courts.
“When we go to the higher courts, they tell us to follow the process. Go to the lower courts. Start from the bottom. We followed everything,” she said.
The CJP said it would pursue legal remedies before higher judicial forums to challenge what it described as deliberate obstruction and the prolonged detention of its leaders.
Das and Ranka were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after they entered Jantar Mantar a day after the site was denotified as a designated protest site. The CJP leaders maintained that they had unfurled the national flag and raised slogans.
The outfit has been protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise threatens voters’ rights. It has also opposed the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.
On Saturday, the CJP said it had consulted senior advocate Kapil Sibal and warned of legal action if Das and Ranka 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 charged with any offence,” the outfit had said in a post on X.
“The deliberate use of delaying tactics to keep them behind bars cannot go unchallenged. Those responsible will be held accountable,” it added. PTI AO SKY
SKY
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
