Three leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party held in preventive arrest after landing in Delhi were ordered to be released by an Executive Magistrate on October 11, with a one-year peace condition.
New Delhi: A Special Executive Magistrate in Delhi has ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were taken into preventive custody by Delhi Police on October 10, directing them, according to their counsel, not to indulge in any activity that may breach peace and tranquillity for the next one year [State v. Abhijeet Dipke and Others (preventive arrest proceedings)].
The three were produced before the Court of the Special Executive Magistrate, South West District, at the Delhi Cantonment police station. Their counsel included Advocates Soutik Banerjee and Devika Tulsiani.
How the three came to be held
The three were travelling to take part in a proposed protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi Police had denied permission for the protest, citing the party’s late application, and tightened security to stop protesters reaching the site. Police took the three into custody from their flight shortly after it landed in the capital.
The preventive provisions invoked were Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which allows an Executive Magistrate to require a person likely to breach the peace to execute a bond to keep the peace for up to one year, and Section 170 BNSS, which allows arrest without a warrant to prevent a cognizable offence, subject to a 24-hour limit unless another provision authorises longer detention.
The release and the condition
The Magistrate ordered their release on the morning of Sunday, October 11, hours before the Supreme Court was to hold a special sitting on petitions against the mass detentions during the Delhi protests. Each of the three furnished a surety bond of Rs 50,000 to maintain peace and good behaviour for one year, and, according to their counsel and the party’s head of legal affairs, Ratna Singh, they were directed not to indulge in any activity that may breach peace and tranquillity for that period.
A written copy of the order was not available at the time of writing. Delhi Police have not been quoted on the release. The proceedings were preventive in nature and no offence has been proved against any of the three. No view is expressed on the merits of the protest or of the police action, both of which remain contested.
Why the order matters
Sections 126 and 170 BNSS are preventive powers: they let the state act before any offence is committed, which is why the law caps custody at 24 hours and routes the matter to a magistrate who can discharge the person or require a bond. A one-year peace condition is the maximum period the law contemplates, and the outcome will be watched for how courts treat such conditions when the activity restrained is a political protest.
The Supreme Court is separately hearing pleas against detentions during the protests, where the State’s justification for the detentions is under examination. The competing contentions of the police and the protesters are yet to be tested.
Matter: Preventive arrest proceedings against Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka under Sections 126 and 170 BNSS
Forum: Special Executive Magistrate, South West District, Delhi (Delhi Cantonment police station)
Date of Order: October 11, 2026
Appearances: Soutik Banerjee and Devika Tulsiani, Advocates, for the CJP leaders