CJP LEADERS WITHDRAW HIGH COURT CHALLENGE TO CUSTODY EXTENSION AS JUDGE LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR FRESH APPEAL
October 21, 2026
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Wednesday withdrew their petition before the Delhi High Court challenging the extension of their judicial custody by a Special Executive Magistrate, bringing the immediate court proceedings to a close without a ruling on the merits of their challenge.
Justice Subramonium Prasad permitted the two leaders to withdraw their plea without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case. The court advised them to examine what transpired before the Special Executive Magistrate on Wednesday and approach the appropriate appellate forum if their grievance persisted.
During the hearing, the judge orally observed that a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution was not an appropriate remedy in the circumstances of the case. However, the court clarified that it had made no substantive findings on the legality or merits of the custody dispute.
Das and Ranka had challenged an October 19 order by the Special Executive Magistrate remanding them to two days of judicial custody. They had approached the High Court seeking urgent relief during the Dussehra court break.
The two CJP leaders were taken into custody on October 13 after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had earlier been denotified as a designated protest site. They were subsequently placed in five days of judicial custody.
Along with other CJP workers, Das and Ranka had displayed the national flag at the site and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest.
On Monday, the newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station ordered their judicial remand until October 21 after they were produced before him. It was this order extending their custody that the two leaders sought to challenge before the High Court.
The withdrawal of the petition does not amount to a judicial endorsement of the custody extension. The High Court neither upheld nor overturned the magistrate’s order on its merits, leaving the leaders to consider the alternative legal remedy suggested by the judge.
The case has unfolded amid wider political tensions surrounding protests against the Chief Election Commissioner and disputes over the functioning of electoral institutions. The CJP leaders’ detention has become part of the broader controversy over the restrictions governing demonstrations at designated protest locations.
For Das and Ranka, the immediate legal question now centres on whether to pursue an appeal after reviewing the proceedings before the Special Executive Magistrate. The High Court’s order leaves that possibility open while making clear that it has not adjudicated the substance of their challenge.
