CJP Leaders Move Delhi HC Over Custody Extension, Seek Urgent Hearing Today Amid Effigy Row

Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka moved the Delhi High Court on Tuesday against a special executive magistrate’s decision to extend their judicial custody in a case involving an alleged breach of a peace bond. Their legal team had sought an urgent hearing, but the matter was not listed that day and lawyers will seek a hearing on Wednesday, LiveLaw reported.

The legal challenge comes amid a political row over the burning of a 30-foot cockroach effigy alongside those of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad during Dussehra celebrations in Delhi. The incident triggered a complaint by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj against the organisers of the event, including BJP MLA Ashok Goel and Delhi minister Kapil Mishra.

On Wednesday, Mishra responded to the criticism by saying that the act had upset the “political termites” of the country.

“The effigy being burnt is that of a cockroach, yet it is the ‘termites’—the political termites of this nation—who are feeling the pain,” Mishra told reporters, according to ANI. He added that the public had its own “pesticide” to deal with them.

Describing a cockroach as a symbol of “filth and chaos”, Mishra said people wanted such effigies to be burnt and claimed that the defeat of “anti-national forces” in India was inevitable.

AAP Seeks FIR Over Effigy Burning

Bharadwaj said he had filed a complaint with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the Delhi Police Commissioner, seeking action against the organisers of the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee event in Pitampura, including its president and BJP MLA Ashok Goel, and Mishra.

In his complaint, the AAP leader alleged that the burning of the effigy deliberately hurt religious sentiments, altered Hindu traditions and attempted to incite enmity between communities. He sought an FIR and the removal of what he described as offensive content from media platforms, warning that the party would approach the court if no action was taken.

Bharadwaj also responded to a social media post featuring a video of the 30-foot effigy, which was captioned, “Delhi never disappoints”.

“It’s not Delhi, it’s ur (your) BJP MLA,” he wrote.

The controversy centres on the decision to burn the cockroach effigy as part of the Dussehra celebrations, alongside the traditional effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad. The move drew attention because of the Cockroach Janata Party’s recent protests against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

CJP’s Protests And Political Context

Led by Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP has organised protests demanding the rollback of the SIR exercise and Kumar’s resignation. The party also played a prominent role in the student-led agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in July over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026.

The student protests had called for accountability over the examination controversy and culminated in Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.

The burning of the cockroach effigy during Dussehra has now brought the CJP into a separate political controversy, with the AAP seeking police action against the event’s organisers and Mishra publicly dismissing the criticism.