A Delhi magistrate ordered Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka’s release on Wednesday.
They pledged peace and no Jantar Mantar protest calls while it remains de-notified.
Both must return with their sureties for the October 23 hearing.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Saurav Das said “truth has triumphed” on Wednesday after a Special Executive Magistrate ordered his release and that of Ashutosh Ranka, following an undertaking that they would maintain peace and not call protests at Jantar Mantar while its de-notified status remained in force.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj, acting as the magistrate, accepted their sureties and ordered their release after a week in judicial custody, Bar and Bench reported.
Das and Ranka assured the magistrate that they would not commit a breach of peace or issue calls for demonstrations at Jantar Mantar for as long as it remained de-notified in accordance with law.
They also expressed “full faith in the judiciary and all its instruments including the learned SEM Court,” according to Bar and Bench.
Both must appear before the magistrate with their sureties on October 23. Police have been directed to submit a verification report.
High Court Challenge Withdrawn
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court heard their challenge to the October 19 order extending their judicial custody by two days. The petition was withdrawn after the court declined to entertain it.
During the hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad asked advocate Abhik Chimni about the petitioners’ ages. Chimni said Das was 27 and Ranka was 32.
“Then you are not Gen Z. What is Gen Z?” the judge asked. After being told that the term referred to people born after 1997, he repeated, “Then you are not Gen Z.”
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke responded on X by sharing a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, captioned: “The only person who qualifies as a Gen Z.”
Why They Were Taken Into Custody
The proceedings stem from the CJP’s protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Das and Ranka went to Jantar Mantar carrying the national flag on October 13, after it was denotified as an authorised protest venue on October 11. They were detained the following day and remanded to five days of judicial custody over apprehensions of a breach of peace.
On October 19, the magistrate rejected their sureties, citing discrepancies in identity documents and concerns about their ability to ensure the leaders’ compliance. Their custody was extended until October 21.
