Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke went on record on Tuesday to raise questions about the detention of Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde by Delhi Police near Jantar Mantar, asking whether carrying the national flag at a protest site had become grounds for arrest. People connected to CJP, along with others who had assembled at the location, moved through barriers and entered Jantar Mantar — a ground that Delhi Police had recently removed from its list of permitted protest sites.
Speaking with reporters, Dipke questioned whether displaying the national flag had become an act contrary to the law. A group had travelled to Jantar Mantar that morning and raised the national flag. Displaying the national flag has not been defined as an offence under the law, and the characterisation that doing so at Jantar Mantar amounts to a breach of law has been disputed.
Dipke stated that if Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde, and the others detained over the tricolour hoisting faced formal charges, authorities ought to respond with proportionate accountability measures. He raised questions about the legal basis for detaining a person for displaying the national flag, and said the nature of governance and national identity in such a place invited scrutiny.
The CJP founder said the protest would continue and urged Delhi Police to allow those detained access to lawyers, noting that the turnout at Jantar Mantar pointed to a broader public mood that other parts of the country might share. Dipke described Jantar Mantar as a place carrying a longstanding tradition of public protest, and separately expressed the hope that those detained would be permitted to consult with their legal representatives.
He noted that detaining individuals for up to 24 hours without access to legal counsel is a practice that has been reported to occur, and that under standard legal procedure, anyone detained in this manner is entitled to consult a lawyer before proceedings advance. Dipke described the handling of public spaces by authorities as consistent with a mindset that treats communal areas as privately controlled territory, and separately put forward the view that those holding power were working to stop people from assembling at Jantar Mantar to hoist the national flag.
Some observers have put forward the assertion that the organisation runs the country as though it were personal property. Dipke stated that Jantar Mantar is a public space belonging to all 140 crore citizens of the country, and that the tricolour would be raised there and would continue to be raised until Jyanesh Kumar steps down from his position.
Three of the individuals — Ranka, Das, and Shinde — were taken into custody by Delhi Police that morning following their reported breach of barricades and entry into the Jantar Mantar grounds. Writing on X, Dipke identified the individuals as flag-bearers who had brought the national flag onto the Jantar Mantar grounds earlier that day, prior to their detention by Delhi Police. Three individuals — Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya — were taken into custody alongside additional members of the group.
In a written statement, Dipke maintained that any attempt to strip the resistance of its recognised status would be futile. Ranka also posted on X calling for the Jantar Mantar site to be left alone, while footage attributed to him depicted attendees scaling barriers to gain entry to the Jantar Mantar grounds. Uniformed personnel moved in shortly after and placed the demonstrators under arrest, according to available reports.
Within a day of Delhi Police removing Jantar Mantar from the list of sites where public gatherings are permitted, detentions had begun — a development that also marked a shift in the ground's longstanding status as a focal point for protest activity in the city. A formal notice from Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar disclosed that the Union home ministry had assembled a panel tasked with identifying alternative locations where members of the public could hold protests and demonstrations.
The approved assembly sites, spread across three parts of the city, take in Ramlila Ground in the central zone, Burari Ground to the north, and CBD Ground in the east. Delhi Police indicated that an updated set of guidelines covering protest conduct at the three locations would be published at a later point. Under Standing Order No. L&O/48/22, issued on 28 April 2022, certain provisions have been amended rather than replaced in their entirety.
Gatherings in Delhi calling for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have formed a backdrop to these events, with participants pointing to what they describe as procedural irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
