New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) agreed to urgently hear Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka’s plea against the extension of their judicial custody by a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM).
Justice Subramonium Prasad will also take up a separate petition by All India Students’ Association (AISA) President Neha Bora against a Delhi Police notice dated October 17, asking her to execute a bond before an SEM for “keeping peace.”
The CJP Leaders’ Plea
Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka have challenged the SEM’s October 19 order remanding them to two days’ judicial custody, in the High Court which is shut this week due to the Dussehra vacation.
The two were taken into custody on October 13 after they allegedly climbed over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had earlier been denotified as a designated protest site, and were sent to five-day judicial custody. Along with other CJP workers, they displayed the national flag at the site and shouted slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest.
According to Delhi Police, the protesters allegedly entered the denotified protest site by trespassing through private premises and obstructed police personnel from discharging their official duties. A newly-appointed SEM at Mandir Marg police station on Monday (October 19) ordered their judicial remand till October 21 after they were produced before him.
The CJP has alleged that bail proceedings in the case have been deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its two co-convenors.
Neha Bora’s Petition
Neha Bora’s plea pertains to a notice dated October 17 under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), asking the student leader to appear before the SEM on October 19 and show cause on why there should not be execution of a personal bond of ₹10,000 with one surety “for keeping peace for a period of enquiry.”
Section 126 empowers the SEM to require a person to execute a bond for keeping the peace if there is credible information that he or she is likely to commit a breach of peace, disturb public tranquillity, or do a wrongful act that may cause such a disturbance.
The AISA President was taken into preventive detention on October 16 and released on October 17 after a group was stopped from participating in the CJP’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march.
