Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have approached the Delhi High Court challenging the extension of their judicial custody, alleging that their continued detention is illegal.

Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka sought a night hearing in the high court, which is shut this week due to Dussehra vacation.

The high court is likely to take up the petition for hearing on Wednesday (October 21, 2026).

A newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station on Monday (October 19) extended their judicial custody by two days after they were produced before him.

Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka were taken into custody on October 13 for allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site. They were initially remanded to five days of judicial custody.

In their petition, the CJP leaders have challenged the magistrate’s order, arguing that it violates the prescribed legal procedure and their fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

They have alleged that they have remained in custody for six days despite submitting the required sureties multiple times.

The CJP leaders have also questioned the justification for their continued detention on grounds of public order. Their plea states that any restriction on liberty must be backed by a real and proximate connection with a disturbance of public order, rather than a remote possibility of such a disturbance.

The petitioners have contended that protesting at a site that has been denotified as a designated protest venue would, at most, raise a question of regulatory compliance and would not, by itself, establish a threat to public order.

Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka were among CJP workers who displayed the national flag at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest on October 13.