Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Case: Live Updates on SEM Hearing
Image: PTI
Updated 6:30 PM IST, October 21, 2026: Delhi Police on Wednesday asked the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg police station for three more days of judicial custody for Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. The SEM has reserved the order, PTI reported, citing police sources. Their custody was due to end on Wednesday, and no date for the decision has been reported. Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court allowed the two to withdraw their petition against the custody extension without ruling on the merits. This page will be updated when the SEM rules.
Timeline (IST)
Newest first. Allegations are the authorities’ and have not been tested in court; Das and Ranka have not been convicted of anything.
- ORDER RESERVED
Police seek three more days. The two were produced before the SEM at Mandir Marg police station after their custody ended. Delhi Police sought a three-day extension of judicial custody, and the SEM reserved the order, PTI reported, citing police sources. IANS reported that the police had earlier opposed their release, saying it could “encourage others to engage in similar acts”. CJP legal head Ratna Singh reached the police station before the hearing. No date for the order has been reported.
Both cases with the Crime Branch. The Wire reported that the Connaught Place case was transferred to the Crime Branch on October 19 and the Parliament Street case on October 20. The Connaught Place FIR, filed on a complaint by Janata Dal (United) office representatives at the protest site, covers disobeying a public servant’s order, house trespass and criminal conspiracy.
SEM hearing on sureties. The SEM was to reconsider the petitioners’ sureties at about 2 pm, according to the judge’s remarks reported by LawBeat. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the High Court the two had been directed to furnish fresh sureties on October 21.
High Court petition withdrawn. Advocate Abhik Chimni withdrew the petition, which challenged the SEM’s October 19 order and sought release. Bar & Bench recorded that “all contentions for both sides are left open”. The judge asked why a writ petition was filed when SEM proceedings were due later that day, and said the remedy was a revision under the BNSS. Chimni had argued that the SEM lacked jurisdiction and that two additional sureties were not considered; the Additional Solicitor General accused the petitioners of “fissiparous conduct”.
Custody extended by two days. SEM Ritu Raj extended judicial custody to October 21, finding, according to ANI, that the two had “deliberately breached their Bonds dated 11.10.2026” and showed “no respect for law”. The SEM found both proposed sureties unfit: one had a photo mismatch between the bond and his Aadhaar card, and the other could not give basic details about Das. The investigating officer had sought five more days of custody. Chimni said the two made no protest calls after October 10 and went to Jantar Mantar individually.
Five days of judicial custody. An SEM sent the two to five days of judicial custody, and they were held in Tihar jail, as IPB reported.
Taken into custody at Jantar Mantar. Delhi Police detained them after they scaled a gate at the de-notified site during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Bar & Bench reported.
Bonds furnished. The two furnished bail bonds, dated October 11, after Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a protest venue, The Week reported. The authorities allege they returned to the site within days and breached these bonds.
Earlier IPB reports: release delay, Abhijeet Dipke released on peace bond and what Supreme Court rulings say on preventive detention. More in Daily Updates.
Source: Based on reporting by The Tribune / PTI, Telangana Today / IANS, The Wire, Bar & Bench, Bar & Bench (live updates), The Week, ANI, LawBeat and Asianet Newsable.
Image: PTI.
