NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were released from custody on Wednesday after a Special Executive Magistrate ordered their release, according to media reports.
The order came hours after the two withdrew their petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the extension of their custody following a Tiranga protest at Jantar Mantar on 14 October.
The two were initially remanded to five days in judicial custody, which was extended by two days on 19 October. They were produced before the magistrate on Wednesday, and their sureties were submitted during the proceedings.
Das and Ranka have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the deletion of voters’ names.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Subramonium Prasad questioned why the leaders had approached the High Court without first pursuing alternative legal remedies. The court allowed them to withdraw their petition without commenting on its merits.
Their lawyer, Abhik Chimni, had challenged the extension of custody, arguing that the order did not adequately explain the immediate threat posed by the two leaders. He also questioned the repeated rejection of their sureties and sought their release on personal bonds.
The leaders were first detained at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on 10 October ahead of planned protests. They were released the same day after furnishing peace bonds of Rs 50,000.
They were detained again on 14 October for allegedly violating the bonds during their march at Jantar Mantar, where protests had been prohibited.
