Supreme Court checks detentions as CJP protests against CEC intensify in Delhi

The Cockroach Janta Party on Sunday said it would intensify its agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as protests continued in the national capital under heavy security and around 200 people were detained. The Supreme Court, hearing the matter in a special sitting, meanwhile directed that people gathering peacefully should not be illegally detained and asked authorities to ensure that Delhi Metro services run normally and internet services are not disrupted, subject to law and order conditions.

The court also issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking contempt proceedings over the alleged violation of its direction that there should be no complete prohibition on metro and train services in Delhi because of the CJP protest. On the ground, all Metro stations remained open on Sunday and no major traffic curbs were imposed in Lutyens' Delhi, though major approach roads to the area were heavily barricaded.

Earlier in the day, CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released after being produced before an executive magistrate. Delhi Police said the preventive arrests were made following "all due legal procedures" and that the leaders were produced before the SEM Court, Delhi Cantt, on Sunday. "A bail bond as surety bond of Rs 50,000 was filed for maintaining peace and good behaviour, for a period of one year, and they were released by the SEM Court," it said.

At a press conference, Das alleged that the government had turned the state against its own citizens and said the authorities could have invited a delegation for talks instead of restricting protesters seeking to demonstrate at a designated site. He also claimed that Delhi Police officials took away their phones during detention without issuing any seizure memo. "We suspect that, as alleged in similar cases involving activists in the past, their phones could have been hacked or cloned to plant documents or other material that might later be used as evidence against us," he said.

Das said the agitation would continue and expand beyond Delhi. "The protests are on... Protests will happen not just in Delhi but the whole country," he said. Ranka said, "This protest will not stop till Gyanesh resigns." Referring to the condition imposed on their release, Das said they had been told there should be no breach of peace for one year, and added, "The breach of peace has been caused by Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar." Ranka said a protest at a designated protest site was not disturbing peace.

Delhi Police said 20 FIRs had been registered in connection with Saturday's CJP protest against the CEC over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The FIRs include charges of assault on police personnel and obstruction of public servants in the discharge of their duties, among other offences. On Saturday, more than 7,000 protesters, including Dipke and four former chief ministers, were detained as the government blocked a planned mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar demanding Kumar's resignation.

On Sunday, as the protest entered its second day, around 200 students and other protesters were detained while marching towards Jantar Mantar and raising slogans. Members of the Students' Federation of India, the All India Students' Association and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, along with CJP supporters, were among those detained. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas and AISA president Neha Bora were also detained. Visuals circulating online showed Bora being chased, stopped and dragged away by security personnel. Other visuals showed protesters marching through Connaught Place's Inner Circle and near Rajiv Chowk, shouting, "Gyanesh Kumar isteefa do, isteefa do".

In a statement, the CJP called the release of its three leaders a "major legal victory" and said the "arbitrary detentions" had triggered criticism and legal challenges amid the security clampdown. "Finally Delhi Police is forced to release Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. Cockroaches never die," it said in a post on X.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee on Sunday claimed he was "kidnapped" from his residence by people in plain clothes ahead of the planned protest in Delhi on October 10. In a video posted on X, he said around 20 people in plain clothes entered his house at about 7 am on Saturday while he was sleeping and took him away before he could ask who they were. Rathee said he was taken to different police stations, was not allowed to contact his lawyer or use a phone for around 22-23 hours, and suffered injuries when he was taken out of his bedroom. "I was not detained, I was kidnapped," he said.

The Supreme Court said people gathering peacefully should not be illegally detained. The bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that Delhi Metro functions according to its normal schedule and that internet services remain undisturbed, subject to law and order conditions. It also asked him to ensure that lawyers, journalists and others are not prevented from carrying out their professional duties. "Internet facilities shall remain undisturbed, as per law.... When we are saying internet facilities shall remain undisturbed, we are not taking away the powers under the Information Technology Act. There shall not be illegal detention, save and except by procedure established by law, particularly with regard to assemblage of people beyond the area within which it (section 163 of the BNSS) is imposed," the bench said.

Separately, sources said Delhi Police had issued fresh notices to CJP leaders in connection with an old case involving a woman, following directions from the Delhi High Court. The case relates to allegations that the woman's photographs were morphed to create objectionable images and circulated online. The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee also filed a police complaint against AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, alleging disruption at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and circulation of "misleading" videos during the anti-CEC protests. The complaint said AAP workers and supporters entered the gurdwara premises and started protesting there after being stopped from reaching Jantar Mantar.

Delhi Police also released a video rejecting the CJP's claim that Dipke had not been informed about his grandmother's death while in custody. Deputy Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav said the information was conveyed promptly and with due sensitivity, and that he was offered help to travel to his hometown for the funeral but "declined" the offer. The video was released after Dipke's mother accused the police of lying and said her son had not been informed.

The protests against Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision are set to continue. After two days of demonstrations, detentions, court intervention and political exchanges, the capital was also preparing for another march on Monday by the INDIA bloc, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying he and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had sought a meeting with the Chief Justice of India between 4 pm and 5 pm to seek his intervention on the issue of "vote chori".