Guwahati: Two Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, have been ordered to remain in judicial custody for five days after their detention during a protest near Jantar Mantar, party activist Ajinkya Shinde said on Wednesday.
He said the action would not stop the party from pursuing its campaign.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke confirmed that the two activists had been jailed and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of suppressing dissent.
He said their detention followed the unfurling of the national flag at Jantar Mantar and challenged Modi to officially proclaim an Emergency if he intended to silence opposition.
Shinde, who was also placed under preventive arrest with Das and Ranka, told reporters that the group had displayed the Tricolour and shouted “Vande Mataram” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” before their detention.
He accused the Modi government of sending Das and Ranka to jail for five days for what he described as nothing more than waving the national flag and chanting patriotic slogans. Shinde characterised the government as fascist.
The action, Shinde said, would neither intimidate CJP members nor bring their campaign to a halt. He said Das and Ranka were prepared to continue opposing the government and had made it clear that they would not retreat.
Shinde also spoke about the timing of Ranka’s detention, saying it was unfortunate that he had been jailed on his birthday. He accused the government of using its authority to violate citizens’ fundamental rights by detaining the activists over their display of the Tricolour and patriotic slogans.
Shinde recalled that the British had imprisoned freedom fighters for hoisting the national flag during India’s struggle for independence. He accused the Modi government of following similar practices and said its arrogance would not last.
The party’s National Working Committee was scheduled to meet later on Wednesday to determine its next steps, Shinde said, adding that the outcome would be announced after the meeting.
Representing Das, Ranka and Shinde, advocate Abhisht Hela questioned whether a Special Executive Magistrate had the authority to remand the activists to judicial custody. He also challenged the reasons Delhi Police had presented for the action.
Hela argued that the remand rested on the police’s suspicion that the activists might commit an offence in the future.
He accused the police of falsely telling the court that the group had called on others to join the protest, maintaining that no such appeal had been made and that the activists had not violated their bonds.
He further alleged that a separate complaint filed in Connaught Place had been brought into the proceedings against the activists, leading to their five-day remand.
Disputing the magistrate’s jurisdiction, Hela argued that the authority to order judicial custody or impose capital punishment rested with judicial magistrates of the first or second class, not a Special Executive Magistrate. He questioned whether the executive magistrate was legally empowered to issue the remand order.
Hela also accused the police of using preventive detention provisions to restrict dissent. He said the defence had relied on several court judgments in support of its position.
The detentions took place on Tuesday after Delhi Police accused the CJP activists of entering Jantar Mantar without permission. The action followed the authorities’ decision a day earlier to remove the venue’s status as an authorised protest site.
Police sources said a case had been registered in connection with the incident.
Before the remand, CJP legal head Ratna Singh had alleged that the activists were unable to meet their lawyers for several hours and were not informed of the reasons for their detention when it began.
She had also said they were expected to be produced before the appropriate magistrate.