CJP leaders withdraw Delhi High Court plea against judicial custody extension
Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka withdrew their challenge after the Delhi HC advised them to await the Special Executive Magistrate’s decision
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Wednesday (October 21) withdrew their plea in the Delhi High Court against the extension of their judicial custody by a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM).
The development took place after Justice Subramonium Prasad asked them to wait for the SEM's decision later in the day and approach the appellate court if their grievance remained.
High Court questions choice of legal remedy
The plea was allowed to be withdrawn by the judge without making any observations on the merits of the case. Justice Prasad asked whether a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution was the appropriate legal remedy when the order could be challenged before a revisional court.
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Justice Prasad asked why the leaders had approached the High Court before the SEM had reconsidered the sureties they had furnished. He told their counsel to wait for the hearing and then decide on the next legal step.
Plea challenged custody extension until October 21
The plea challenged the SEM's October 19 order remanding Das and Ranka to judicial custody until October 21. The leaders sought an urgent hearing even though the High Court was closed for the Dussehra break.
Das and Ranka were detained on October 13 after they allegedly climbed over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site. They were initially sent to five days of judicial custody.
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Along with other CJP workers, the two had displayed the national flag at the site and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being placed under preventive arrest.
A newly appointed SEM at Mandir Marg police station ordered their judicial remand on Monday (October 19) after they were produced before him.
What the judge said
During the hearing, Justice Prasad questioned the leaders' decision to approach the High Court when a revisional remedy was available. He said, "There is a difference between maintainability and entertainability. Maintainable it is,” as quoted by the Bar and Bench.
The judge also referred to their alleged breach of the preventive notice and asked whether insisting on sureties in such circumstances was unlawful.
The court made clear that permitting the withdrawal did not amount to a ruling on the merits of the challenge.
(With agency inputs)