Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday drew a comparison between the Allahabad High Court’s decision to suspend the conviction and life sentence of a murder accused seeking to contest elections and the continued detention of CJP co-convenors Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, news agency PTI reported.
Ranka and Das were sent to judicial custody for another two days on Monday. The CJP demanded their immediate release and accountability from the authorities, announcing that it would challenge the order before higher judicial forums.
Dipke posted screenshots of two news reports on X. One carried the headline, “Allahabad High Court suspends conviction of murder convict who wishes to contest election on BJP ticket,” while the other reported the extension of judicial custody for Ranka and Das.
According to the report shared by Dipke, the Allahabad High Court stayed the conviction and life sentence of Nandlal Rai, also known as Babloo Rai, who was convicted last year in a 2017 murder case. Rai has expressed his intention to contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as an independent candidate or, if possible, on a BJP ticket. His appeal against the conviction is still pending.
The court observed that an ordinary citizen’s right to earn a livelihood was no less significant than a politician’s right to contest elections. It held that the conviction and sentence should be stayed to allow Rai to sustain himself until a final decision was reached on his appeal.
In a separate post, Dipke highlighted the sacrifices made by Ranka and Das, saying they had abandoned successful careers and financial stability in the hope of improving the country.
“A few years ago, Ashu had a high-paying corporate job in London, earning millions. Saurav was writing about the country's legal system and living a great life. Both had successful careers, financial security and every reason to continue living the lives they had built for themselves,” he said.
“But they chose to give it all up in the hope of making this country a better place. They had absolutely no reason to leave behind their comfortable lives, take to the streets, face uncertainty and eventually end up in jail. Yet they did,” Dipke added.
He said what he admired most about the two leaders was their decision to stand up for disadvantaged people despite coming from privileged backgrounds.
“They could have easily looked the other way, enjoyed their lives and never bothered about the struggles of people they had never even met. Nobody asked them to make these sacrifices. Nobody expected them to. But they did, because they genuinely care about people beyond themselves,” he said.
Dipke described defending strangers, taking up causes that did not directly concern oneself and risking everything to improve someone else’s life as among the greatest human qualities. “That's the kind of people Ashu and Saurav are,” he said.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh termed the extension of their judicial custody “absurd”.
“I haven't seen anything this absurd in my entire life,” she wrote in a post on X.
Speaking to reporters, Singh described the proceedings before the special executive magistrate as “no less than a circus” and demanded that the court be abolished. She alleged that the law was being misused to keep Ranka and Das behind bars.
“The SEM court should be abolished because it is compromised,” she said, questioning the rejection of the sureties submitted on behalf of the two leaders.
Singh said their lawyers had presented legal arguments and that no evidence had established a likelihood of a protest or breach of peace.
“There has been no call (for a protest) from our end. And still, they were sent to two days' judicial custody. They (authorities) do not want to do anything about their liberty,” she said.
She also questioned the magistrate’s conduct during the proceedings, alleging that the official was using a phone inside the courtroom. Calling for an investigation into the functioning of the authorities, Singh said the proceedings had raised serious concerns about personal liberty.
“I just feel that this entire system is there to crush us, but I don't think it will succeed,” she said. “The youngsters of this country are watching. They are seeing how power is being used. They (authorities) are misusing the law to curb voices,” she added, arguing that the government would eventually have to answer for its actions.
Singh further alleged that the special executive magistrate’s order did not clarify the specific apprehension cited as the reason for keeping the two leaders in custody.
“The SEM's order offers no explanation for what the alleged apprehension is, merely stating that because the state claims to have an apprehension, they must remain in custody,” she said.
According to the CJP, the court rejected the latest sureties because the photographs did not match or because the people offering them allegedly lacked control over the detainees. The party has accused authorities of deliberately delaying the bail proceedings to prevent Ranka and Das from being released, describing the reasons for rejecting the sureties as vague.
An official told PTI that Ranka and Das were remanded in judicial custody for another two days after appearing before a newly appointed special executive magistrate at Mandir Marg police station on Monday.
The two were initially sent to judicial custody for five days on October 13 after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had been removed from the list of designated protest sites days earlier. Along with other CJP activists, they displayed the national flag and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained.
On Sunday, the special executive magistrate handling their bail matter claimed that unidentified individuals had threatened him. The police subsequently registered a non-cognisable report.
Ranka and Das, whose custody has been extended amid the CJP’s allegations concerning the bail proceedings, are scheduled to appear before the special executive magistrate again on Wednesday, sources told PTI.
