Jantar Mantar Protest Case: Delhi Police Hands Probe Against CJP Leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka To Crime Branch's Inter State Cell

The transfer came shortly after a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg police station extended their judicial custody by two days in separate proceedings for the alleged breach of their peace bonds. It is to be noted that their judicial custody is coming to and end today, October 21 and they are to be produced again before the SEM.

The first FIR was registered at Connaught Place police station under Section 223A (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), Section 332 (house-trespass to commit an offence) and Section 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

The second FIR was registered at Parliament Street police station under Sections 221 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of public functions), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty) and 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from duty), read with Section 3(5) (common intention) of the BNS.

Both cases have now been handed to the Inter State Cell of the Crime Branch.

While extending the Judicial custody by 2 days, the SEM held the two had 'deliberately' breached their peace bonds immediately after executing them on October 11. The magistrate also cited the investigating officer’s concerns about a possible breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquillity while extending their custody by two days.

The order came after Delhi Police sought a five-day extension of their custody, alleging that the two had violated the conditions of their bonds by entering Jantar Mantar, which had been removed from the list of designated protest venues. “The grounds of apprehension as presented before me apparently suggest that the conduct of the respondents is not above board; rather it shows no respect for law and their habitualness in calling protest at de-notified areas,”

the magistrate observed. The magistrate had further said that the respondents’ statements before the court that they would not repeat the alleged conduct did not inspire confidence in view of the material placed on record.

According to the Delhi Police, the two entered the de-notified protest site by trespassing through private premises and obstructed police personnel from discharging their official duties.

Jantar Mantar had been denotified as a protest site a day before the protest. Das, Ranka and other CJP members were detained on 13 October after they allegedly entered the Jantar Mantar area, raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and unfurled the national flag.

The custody of Das and Ranka arises from preventive proceedings, which are separate from the two FIRs. On 14 October, an SEM sent the two leaders to judicial custody for allegedly trespassing into private premises to reach Jantar Mantar and for violating bonds that required them to maintain peace.

On Monday, they were produced before a newly appointed SEM at Mandir Marg police station and were sent to judicial custody for two more days.

Their associate Ajinkya Shinde, who was detained with them, was not sent to custody. He was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months and was released on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 5,000.

Abhijit Dipke and Neha Bora