The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday welcomed the release of its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, with founder Abhijeet Dipke describing the duo as “much, much bigger leaders” than him and expressing his willingness to follow their lead.
The two leaders were released after a special executive magistrate (SEM) ordered their release following the expiry of their judicial custody in connection with the CJP’s October 14 protest at Jantar Mantar.
In a post on social media, Dipke said he was happy to follow the duo’s instructions. “Saurav and Ashu are not just better but much, much bigger leaders than me. Happy to follow your orders, my leaders. Jaan hazir hai!” he wrote.
Adding a playful note in Hindi, he said, “Lekin iske baad mere bina garden mein koi akela nahi ghumega!!!” (But after this, don't go alone in the garden without me).
In another post, Dipke shared a photograph of Das and Ranka with the caption “My leaders”.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh also welcomed the decision, saying it should have come earlier.
“We welcome the decision. I think this decision should have been taken long ago, but it is not too late,” she said.
Singh said the police had sought a five-day extension of the duo’s custody, citing an imminent threat, but the defence had argued that there was no such threat and no call for a protest.
“You cannot take that as an assumption and extend the judicial custody. The SEM has taken that on record,” she said.
Das and Ranka were initially remanded to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after being detained for allegedly entering the denotified protest site at Jantar Mantar and violating peace bonds. Their custody was extended by two days on October 19.
Asked about the Delhi High Court’s observations earlier on Wednesday, Singh said the judge was entitled to express an opinion, but the CJP did not necessarily agree with it.
“They have given their opinion. It is an observation, an oral observation. There was no discussion on the merits in the court. We were here today for the release of Saurav and Ashutosh, for which we had been trying for the past week. Finally, that has happened,” she said.
Singh said the CJP team was emotional and eager to meet the two leaders after their release.
“The team is also very emotional right now. They also want to meet them because everyone has not met them for a long time,” she said.
She also expressed hope that nobody’s liberty would be curtailed in the future over issues relating to sureties or other technical reasons. The release order had been sent, she said, adding that the team hoped to meet Das and Ranka soon.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court declined to interfere with the duo’s judicial custody, asking them to await the SEM court’s decision and approach the appellate court if their grievance persisted.
(With inputs from PTI)