‘Much, much bigger leaders than me’: CJP founder welcomes release of Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka

New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday welcomed the release of its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) ordered their release following the expiry of their judicial custody.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke described Das and Ranka as “much, much bigger leaders” than himself and expressed his willingness to follow their orders.

“Saurav and Ashu are not just better but much, much bigger leaders than me. Happy to follow your orders, my leaders. Jaan hazir hai!” Dipke said in a social media post.

He added a playful remark in Hindi: “Lekin iske baad mere bina garden mein koi akela nahi ghumega!!!” (But after this, don't go alone in the garden without me).

In another post, Dipke shared a photograph of the two leaders with the caption “My leaders”.

CJP legal head Ratna Singh also welcomed the decision, saying it should have been taken earlier.

“We welcome the decision. I think this decision should have been taken long ago, but it is not too late,” she said.

Singh said the police had sought a five-day extension of the leaders’ custody, citing an imminent threat. However, 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 at Jantar Mantar and violating peace bonds. Their custody was extended by two days on October 19.

CJP responds to Delhi High Court observations

Asked about the Delhi High Court's observations earlier on Wednesday, Singh said the judge was entitled to express an opinion, but the party 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, whom many members had not seen for a long time.

She also expressed hope that nobody's liberty would be curtailed in the future over issues relating to sureties or other technical grounds.

The release order had been sent, and the team hoped to meet Das and Ranka soon, she added.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court declined to interfere with the leaders’ judicial custody, asking them to await the SEM's decision and approach the appropriate appellate or revisional forum if their grievance persisted.