The Delhi High Court in a special hearing on Wednesday declined to entertain Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka’s petition challenging special executive magistrate’s (SEM) order extending their judicial custody in an alleged bond-of-peace violation case, following their decision to withdraw the same.
The CJP leaders decided to withdraw the plea after Justice Subramonium Prasad raised questions concerning the maintainability of the petition. The Delhi Police represented by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and standing counsel Ashish Dixit, also opposed its petition.
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‘Keep your powder dry’
The court observed that the appropriate remedy for the two CJP leaders was to challenge the SEM’s order before the sessions court. Emphasising that personal liberty is sacrosanct, the court noted that when a prescribed legal remedy is available, one should follow the established procedure rather than approach the high court directly.
“Your remedy actually lies in revision. There is difference between maintainability and entertainability... Instead of arguing now, why don’t you keep your powder dry? First before the revisional court (trial court) and then HC,” the judge told their lawyer Abhik Chimni.
{{/usCountry}}“Your remedy actually lies in revision. There is difference between maintainability and entertainability... Instead of arguing now, why don’t you keep your powder dry? First before the revisional court (trial court) and then HC,” the judge told their lawyer Abhik Chimni.
{{/usCountry}}Das and Ranka approached the high court against SEM’s October 19 order to extend their custody by two days. The executive magistrate at Mandir Marg police station cited concerns over public peace and security, and said the CJP leaders showed “no respect for law” by repeatedly calling for protests at de-notified sites, supporting Delhi Police’s contention that their release could pose an imminent threat to public order.
Seeking immediate release on personal bond rather than a surety, the two said that the order was contrary to a Delhi high court’s ruling in Aldanish Rein vs State of NCT of Delhi & Anr, in which it was held that an arrested person should be released on a personal bond once surety bonds are submitted, pending their verification.
Das and Ranka said they had been in custody for six days despite submitting multiple sureties and challenged the grounds for rejecting the sureties.
The court said the Delhi Police had shown “benevolence” by issuing a fresh notice to the duo despite their alleged breach of the bond. “The reason for the first bond came true: you had a tendency to break the peace for a second time, which you did. Are the authorities not right in putting you to stricter rule?” the court said.
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Later, after their release, commenting on the Delhi High Court’s oral observations regarding the activists’ ages during an earlier hearing, Singh said, “The high court made certain oral observations, but those were their observations... Saurav Das is 27. He is absolutely GenZ. Ashutosh is borderline GenZ, and we relate to the cause of the youth. We are ultimately the youth of this country, so of course, we are the youth.”