CJP Leaders Jailed Five Days Over Jantar Mantar Protest

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody following their preventive arrest a day earlier for allegedly breaching barricades at Jantar Mantar. Party member Ajinkya Shinde was released on a personal bond after the same hearing.

The three were detained on Tuesday after crossing police barricades at the site, which authorities had recently de-notified as a designated protest venue. They were reportedly waving the national flag and chanting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" at the time.

“They have been sent to judicial custody for five days for raising the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and waving the national flag.”

Defense advocate Abhisht Hela argued the remand order disregarded Supreme Court guidelines and was based on police presumptions about future conduct rather than proven offenses. He also objected that Special Executive Magistrates overseeing the case are senior police officers, not judicial magistrates.

Hela further alleged that police lied in court by claiming the activists had issued a public call for protesters to gather at Jantar Mantar. He stated no such call was made and that a separate complaint related to Connaught Place was misused in the proceedings.

CJP lead Ajinkya Shinde called the detention a "black day for the country" and noted the arrest coincided with Ranka's birthday. He accused the central government of dictatorial action for jailing activists over flag-waving and sloganeering.