Delhi SEM Orders Release of Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka After Custody Extension Bid

Sureties accepted as the activists were produced before the magistrate following the expiry of their extended judicial custody.

(Judicial Quest News Network)

21, October,2026- A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) in Delhi has ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after accepting the sureties furnished on their behalf.

The order came on October 21, when the two were brought before the SEM after completing a further two days in judicial custody. Delhi Police had sought to extend their custody by three more days.

Police detained Das and Ranka on October 13 after they climbed the gates of the barricaded protest site at Jantar Mantar. They were remanded to judicial custody for five days on October 14. On October 19, the SEM extended their custody by two days and declined to accept the sureties then presented, finding them unsuitable.

In its October 19 order, the SEM had expressed concern that the activists’ conduct could threaten public peace and tranquillity. The order also referred to calls for protests in areas where demonstrations had been de-notified.

Das and Ranka had separately approached the Delhi High Court to challenge the custody-extension order. They later withdrew that petition after Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the SEM was due to consider the matter that day and that a revision petition could be an appropriate course if they did not obtain relief before the magistrate.

The release order followed the SEM’s acceptance of the sureties submitted on October 21. The order concerns their release from custody; it does not, by itself, amount to an acquittal or determine the merits of any underlying allegations.