Two leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were released on Wednesday (October 21) after a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) accepted the sureties furnished on their behalf, ending their custody over alleged security breaches during a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj, acting as the SEM, ordered their release after their custody, initially extended by two days on October 19, came up for consideration. Delhi Police had sought a further three-day extension, according to Bar and Bench.

“Truth has triumphed,” Das said after the release order was passed.

The release came on the same day the Delhi High Court heard a petition filed by the two CJP leaders challenging the SEM court’s decision to extend their custody until October 21. The petitioners later withdrew the plea after the High Court declined to entertain it.

During the hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad asked Abhik Chimni, counsel for the petitioners, about the ages of the two leaders. When Chimni informed the court that Das was 27 and Ranka was 32, the court remarked, “Then you are not Gen Z. What is Gen Z? Court is informed that people born after 1997 are Gen Z. Then you are not Gen Z."

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke also responded to the exchange by sharing a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X with the caption, "The only person who qualifies as a Gen Z.”

The two activists were detained on October 13 and subsequently sent to judicial custody over allegations that they had breached security arrangements and entered Jantar Mantar during demonstrations against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

On October 19, the SEM extended their custody by two days after Delhi Police argued that their release could disturb “peace and tranquility”. The magistrate’s order cited concerns about the activists’ conduct, alleging that it reflected a lack of respect for the law and raised questions about their potential to disrupt public order.

The SEM court also referred to their alleged “habitualness” in calling for protests in areas where permission for demonstrations had been withdrawn. It had rejected the sureties submitted at the time, holding that they were unfit.

The High Court also questioned the conduct of the protesters during Wednesday’s proceedings, noting allegations that they had breached barricades despite not obtaining police permission for the demonstration.

"Barricade is there for a purpose… and when you break the barricade, there is a chance of 10-20 people coming," the court told Chimni, referring to incidents of “arson” and unrest in other countries.

“We are seeing what is happening outside our country... Arson etc. You may have started with something you say is peaceful. For that purpose you take police permission which is to prevent unwanted persons who join your group and spoil your name,” Bar and Bench quoted the High Court as observing.

The release of Das and Ranka follows days of legal proceedings over the extension of their custody, with the dispute centring on the police’s concerns about public order and the activists’ challenge to the restrictions imposed on them following the protest against the electoral roll revision exercise.