Story perspectives

Court challenges two-day custody extension for Jantar Mantar trespassers

By Drooid · Oct 21, 2026, 4:06 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Dipke Pauses Protests

Abhijeet Dipke announced a pause in protests until after Diwali.
He urged supporters to spend the festive season with families, noting volunteers' relatives' hardship.
Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das remain in judicial custody after trespassing denotified Jantar Mantar.
A special executive magistrate extended their custody by two days on October 19, citing breach of peace bonds.
Delhi Police moved two cases against Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das to the Crime Branch.

Summary

Dipke Seeks Bail

The Delhi High Court received a petition to overturn the magistrate’s custody extension.
The petition invokes the Aldanish Rein judgment and seeks release on personal bond.
Four proposed sureties were rejected, two for prior detentions and two for residency mismatches.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa labeled the continued detention illegal custody lacking statutory basis.
The magistrate ordered fresh sureties and set Dipke’s bail with a one-year peace bond.

History

Historical Context

During the 1975-76 Emergency, Indira Gandhi’s government invoked MISA and other laws to detain thousands—34,988 under MISA alone—and the Supreme Court’s April 1976 ADM Jabalpur ruling, led by Chief Justice M.H. Beg, suspended habeas-corpus rights. Today, Delhi activist Abhijeet Dipke’s brief detention and a magistrate’s two-day extension echo that same preventive-detention framework, prompting the High Court to scrutinize its legality.

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Dipke Pauses Protests

Abhijeet Dipke announced a pause in protests until after Diwali.
He urged supporters to spend the festive season with families, noting volunteers' relatives' hardship.
Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das remain in judicial custody after trespassing denotified Jantar Mantar.
A special executive magistrate extended their custody by two days on October 19, citing breach of peace bonds.
Delhi Police moved two cases against Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das to the Crime Branch.

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