CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke granted conditional bail and asked to sign a peace bond

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), was granted conditional bail on Saturday, October 17, and asked to sign a peace bond, according to several reports. He had been held in Delhi after the party called a tricolor march at Connaught Place on October 16.

What the reports say about the bail

The Special Executive Magistrate's court at Mandir Marg granted the bail, according to The Sentinel. It reports that he was ordered released on condition that he furnish a security bond to maintain public tranquility, and that a Delhi Police official said he was directed to sign a peace bond to ensure good behavior. Release formalities were underway at Mandir Marg police station, the report says, quoting his legal representatives.

A report by DNA India puts the personal bond at Rs 50,000. The other reports read do not give an amount or a duration.

A PTI report carried by ThePrint cites police sources. It quotes a senior police officer as saying he was let off "based on the assurance given in the peace bond," and that police were awaiting the written order for further details.

Reports differ on the arrest

The reports describe the arrest differently. The Sentinel says police placed Dipke under preventive arrest on Friday to stop the march, under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which it describes as provisions that allow police to act against a possible breach of public peace. It says no criminal charges were reported. DNA India also reports the arrest as a case of breach of peace under those sections, and says police had served a notice prohibiting the march on law and order grounds.

PTI, citing police sources, reports instead that he was arrested on Saturday morning for allegedly violating a peace bond he had furnished on October 10. The PTI report, as carried by ThePrint and the Free Press Journal, does not reconcile this with the report that he was detained on Friday after leaving his home in Jhandewalan to join the protest.

The October 10 bond is described in two ways. DNA India says that earlier in October police detained Dipke from inside a flight along with CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka ahead of a planned Jantar Mantar protest, and that they were released after nearly a day, having furnished security bonds and an undertaking to maintain peace for a year. A report in Mathrubhumi also refers to a one-year peace bond ordered after an October 10 action.

The CJP's position

Mathrubhumi reports that Ratna Singh, the CJP's legal affairs head, challenged the arrest before the same magistrate's court and sought his immediate release. It says she argued on X that urging people to unfurl the flag could not by itself be a crime, and that Dipke was picked up outside his home, his whereabouts were initially withheld and his lawyers could not meet him. The report does not say whether the court ruled on her challenge or whether the bail came from that proceeding. The report adds that, according to police, about 150 demonstrators were detained on the day and several FIRs were filed for breaching prohibitory orders.

DNA India reports that Neha Bora, national president of the All India Students' Association, was also detained on Friday and was released on Saturday after completing formalities.