How Abhijeet Dipke, 2 other CJP leaders were released day after detention

On Sunday, an Executive Magistrate Court in Delhi released Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), along with two other CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, a day after their detention. The police detained the three leaders upon their arrival from Mumbai, where they intended to lead a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The police claimed they had not given permission for the protest.

Placed under preventive arrest, the CJP leaders were brought before the court within 24 hours, following the preventive detention provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). They were released on personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each, with the condition that they would not engage in any breach of peace for a year. Their lawyer, Advocate Soutik Banerjee, stated that the police could not provide any grounds for further detention.

Section 126 BNSS allows an Executive Magistrate to require a person who is likely to breach the peace to execute a bond for maintaining peace, while Section 170 permits a police officer to arrest someone without a warrant if they believe the individual can commit a cognizable offense that cannot be prevented without the arrest. In this case, the charges against the CJP leaders were Section 126 and Section 170 of the BNSS.

The court accepted all submissions and prayers made by the CJP leaders, including the release of their devices taken during detention. Advocate Devika Tulsani represented the CJP leaders along with Banerjee. The leaders emphasized that peaceful protests are constitutionally protected and cannot be considered a breach of peace.