Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Wednesday withdrew their petition before the Delhi High Court challenging a Special Executive Magistrate's (SEM) order that had extended their judicial custody till October 21 in the Jantar Mantar protest case, ANI reported. Justice Subramonium Prasad permitted the withdrawal and made clear the court had expressed no opinion on the merits of the case, with all contentions of both sides left open.

During the hearing, the court observed that liberty is sacrosanct, but where the law provides an alternative remedy, petitioners should generally pursue an appeal rather than a writ petition, Live Law reported from the courtroom. Acting on the court's suggestion, counsel for the two activists, Advocate Abhik Chimni, sought and was granted permission to withdraw the plea, so that they could await the outcome of the SEM proceedings scheduled the same afternoon and take remedies in accordance with law.

Das and Ranka had challenged the SEM's October 19 order in preventive proceedings under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), arguing, according to their plea as reported by ANI, that they had remained in custody since their October 13 protest at Jantar Mantar despite repeatedly furnishing sureties, and that Section 135(3) of the BNSS does not give an independent power to extend custody on a police application. The protest followed the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the authorities.

The withdrawal came on the day the extended custody was due to expire, with the two due to be produced before the SEM court, which was scheduled to reconsider the sureties furnished by them at 2 pm on Wednesday, according to ANI. Separately, Delhi Police has transferred the two FIRs registered over the October 13 Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar incidents to its Crime Branch, as reported earlier.

Sources: ANI (via Devdiscourse and Latestly, 21 October 2026); Live Law courtroom live updates, 21 October 2026; Verdictum, 21 October 2026.