New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday welcomed the special executive magistrate’s order releasing its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, with the outfit’s legal head Ratna Singh saying the decision should have come earlier.
Das and Ranka were released after the expiry of judicial custody in connection with the October 14 protest at Jantar Mantar.
“We welcome the decision. I think this decision should have been taken long ago, but it is not too late,” Singh told reporters.
She said the police had sought a five-day extension of their custody citing an imminent threat, but the defence argued that there was no imminent 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 of 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 in the day, 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 team was emotional and eager to meet the two leaders.
“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 expressed hope that nobody’s liberty would be curtailed in the future over issues related to sureties or technical reasons, adding that the release order had been sent and the team hoped to see Das and Ranka soon.
Earlier, the high court declined to interfere with Das and Ranka’s judicial custody, asking them to await the SEM court’s decision and approach the appellate court if their grievance persisted. PTI AO KVK
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