By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Sending of two Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders to Tihar Jail by the Union Government of India in the morning, October 14, 2026, marks the next turning point in the “Save Democracy” movement in the country. They have allegedly broken the peace by trespassing decades old legally notified protest site Jantar Mantar, which was denotified on October 12, after the CJP asked for permission to hold protests at that site against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar who allegedly helped PM Narendra Modi to win elections, which the opposition call vote theft.
The two leaders sent to Tihar Jail are CJP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das and its national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka. They were arrested along with 12 other members including the national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde on October 13 when they entered Jantar Mantar scaling a gate and started waving India’s National Flag demanding resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. All the 14 were detained by the Delhi Police, who registered two FIRs against them alleging trespass, disobedience of official orders and obstruction of police personnel on duty, and breaching peace.
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and CJP’s founder Abhijit Dipke were earlier detained on October 10 from airplane while they were coming from Mumbai to participate in the Save Democracy Protest at Jantar Mantar. They were produced before an executive magistrate who released them on surety bond of ₹ 50,000 for maintaining peace for one year and that they would not “breach peace”. At the time of their arrest, they had not committed “breach of peace”, an offence that existed in the future in the mind of the government, as their detention records show. Police have invoked Section 126 (security for keeping peace) and 170 (arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offences) of the BNSS against them.
When on Wednesday , Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were produced in the morning before a Special Executive Magistrate, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were remanded to five day judicial custody. Ajinkya Shinde was released after furnishing a personal bond and surety of ₹5,000, with an undertaking to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months, according to a police statement. One of the allegation is that Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had violated the earlier condition of their release on October 11, to maintain peace for one year.
The immediate trigger for anti-CEC protests was the publication of an investigative report by India Express that found at least 14 objections by two of the Election Commissioners in the last 10 months labelling some of the steps taken by CEC in relation to SIR of electoral rolls in the country underway as “illegal” and “unauthorised”. Leader of Opposition, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been already alleging “vote theft” being committed by CEC Gyanesh Kumar on the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. INDIA bloc met on September 30 and announced anti-CEC agitation from October 2 in Delhi demanding removal of or resignation from CEC-Gyanesh Kumar.
CJP had announced a parallel protest in Mumbai on October 2, framing their agitation around the slogans like “Save Democracy, Save Constitution” and demanded immediate removal or resignation of CEC-Gyanesh Kumar.
On October 2, thousands of protesters from Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere across the country were detained. Police deployed thousands of police personnel in Central Delhi and prevented the protesters from coming to Jantar Mantar or to protest anywhere in the area. Since then, protests and detentions were almost daily affairs. Other youth and student organisations like AISA, SFI, and AISF also joined. Lawyers, academicians, civil society organisations, important personalities and common people also joined. Police and paramilitary forces have blocked the protest site Jantar Mantar, on the ground that no permission was grated for protests.
October 6 protests by INDIA bloc MPs were also blocked while they were trying to march to ECI. Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc leaders then staged sit-in protest, and after about nine hours they were removed and forcefully detained. Thereafter, INDIA bloc continued their surprise protests for the next three days.
October 10 protest was even bigger. Hundreds of Delhi inbound trains from across the country were cancelled, road transports and Metro were not allowed to run, internet was shut down, and Jantar Mantar was heavily barricaded. That day, not only central Delhi but entire Delhi witnessed many demonstrations and thousands of detentions.
On October 12, INDIA block parties marched to the Supreme Court of India and filed their petition against the vote theft and irregularities by CEC. CJP and other youth organisations in the meantime continued their protests and they tried to protest at Jantar Mantar or around it. It was on that day Jantar Mantar was denotified as a free protest site, which is just about 1.5 km from the Parliament of India.
Union Government has suggested three alternative sites, the nearest being Ramlila Maidan in Central Delhi, 6.7 km from Parliament. This site is not available currently until the end of 2026 for protests. Moreover, it is a paid site which costs about 1.21 lakh a day. The second Burari site is about 21.7 km from the Parliament, while the third CBD ground Shahdara, is about 13.6 km away. Those two also comes with costs and they need to be book.
This strategy of the Union Government led by PM Narendra Modi shows that they don’t want the people to protest at all, or make the protest too difficult for people to afford them, by barricading, obstructing, denotifying free protest sites, and detaining the protesters. By sending two CJP leaders to Tihar Jail in the morning is an additional indication of their intention.
A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) has sent them to judicial custody, not a judicial magistrate. SEM is an executive officer, in Delhi, often a senior police officer or administrative official empowered under Delhi Police Act and criminal procedure laws, such as Bharatiya Nyaya Surakhsa Sanhita (BNSS) to handle law and order matters, preventive detention, and peace bonds. Executive Magistrates are part of the government on the executive side, but not part of the Judiciary on the judicial side. Sending two CJP leaders to Tihar Jail indicates the direction and intention of the government, which is ominous for “Save Democracy” protesters, and the country as a whole. (IPA Service)
