CJP’s Ratna Singh alleges “liberty being curtailed” as Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka sent back to judicial custody

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–> CJP’s Ratna Singh alleges “liberty being curtailed” as Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka sent back to judicial custody ANI | Updated: Oct 19, 2026 20:39 IST

Join our Whatsapp channel New Delhi [India], October 19 (ANI): Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were taken back to judicial custody from Mandir Marg Police Station in Delhi after their surety was rejected on Monday over a reported mismatch in documents, their lawyers said.Ratna Singh, Head of Legal Affairs at CJP, criticised the proceedings, alleging that liberty was being curtailed on vague grounds despite repeated attempts to complete the surety verification process.“A mockery was going on in the Court. For the last six days, we have been saying that one or the other reason is being nitpicked – surety verification has not been done, that an FIR has been lodged against the surety. We saw someone’s liberty being curtailed,” Singh said.She alleged that the hearing, scheduled for 2 pm, began around 3-3.30 pm and lasted an hour. Singh further said they would challenge the decision, describing it as an attempt to stifle voices.“The 2 pm hearing began at 3-3.30 pm. It went for an hour. Our lawyers discussed on the law points. There was nothing presented from the other side which said that there should be an extension (of judicial custody). There was no reason to keep them in further judicial custody. They have been sent to judicial custody for a very vague reason…We will challenge this. This is mental torture and an attempt to stifle voices…We can see everything; the entire world can see everything. They cannot silence everyone,” she added.Advocate Abhik Chimni, representing Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, said he was disappointed with the decision, arguing that the matter concerned preventive custody and that the court had earlier sought sureties. He said that the surety was rejected, citing a mismatch of the photographs.”We are very disappointed. This is a matter of preventive custody, and it is also a matter of fact that the Court itself said that they don’t deem it necessary for the person to be sent to judicial custody. That is why they asked for the surety; once the sureties were given, they originally had a problem with it. Then there was an issue with the next surety too,” Advocate Chimni said.Chimni said the defence had submitted another surety along with the required details on Monday, but the order cited a mismatch in photographs and an apprehension as reasons for the decision.“Law says – release them first and then see the verification, surety and so on. Today, they produced another surety and all details required. One of the reasons they gave in the order is that one of the photos is not matching. Then they said that there is an apprehension,” he said.“It is very disturbing; we will see what to do,” he added.Advocate Pushp Sharma, also representing Das and Ranka, said the defence had raised legal questions during the proceedings but received no satisfactory answers from the other side.He said the defence had sought details of a specific call allegedly made by the two activists, as well as the legal provision under which the action was being taken. According to Sharma, the authorities did not provide the requested details and instead referred to information being in the public domain.“They said that they (Ranka and Das) made a call and made a statement; we told them to show us the specific call. To this, they had no reply. They only said that everything is in the public domain. We told them to show us the provision under which this is being done. They again had no reply,” he said.Sharma further alleged that the officials took three hours to pronounce the order, despite initially indicating that it would take half an hour. He also claimed that the sureties were asked questions and were eventually told that their photographs did not match.“We were told that SEM would take half an hour to pronounce the order but they took 3 hours and took 2 of those hours to talk to someone over the phone. During this time, they wrote the order, clicked its photo and sent it somewhere. Then the sureties were called in and asked strange questions. This is absurd. SEM is a man of the Police. Sureties were being threatened. Lastly, we were told that photos of the sureties were not matching. This order will be challenged and taken to higher judiciary,” Sharma added.On October 12, the Delhi Police arrested Das, Ranka and others for allegedly trespassing at Jantar Mantar, which has been de-notified as a designated protest venue. Following their arrest, Das and Ranka were sent to five days of judicial custody.(ANI)