CJP, Congress spar over legal aid for detained students after Delhi protest

A public exchange between the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Congress over legal assistance for detained students has brought the coordination of on-ground support into focus following the October 10 protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protests, organised by CJP at Jantar Mantar, demanded Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls. The demonstrations were met with a major police crackdown, with thousands of protesters, students, opposition leaders and activists reportedly detained. CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained after arriving in Delhi, while the party’s head of legal affairs, Ratna Singh, alleged that she and three other lawyers had been detained ahead of the demonstration.

The row over legal assistance emerged on October 12, when Singh posted on X, defending the contribution of independent lawyers who had assisted protesters and detainees. Her remarks came amid questions over the availability and coordination of legal support during the demonstrations.

“No one is claiming credit for doing the bare minimum of helping people,” Singh wrote, urging people not to turn the issue into “a political debate about who is helping whom”.

She said independent lawyers had been actively assisting people on the ground, particularly during detentions, and described them as “the unsung heroes”. Singh also said more lawyers were volunteering to join CJP’s legal team, adding that it would take time to streamline the arrangements.

“A heartfelt thank you to all the independent lawyers in Delhi who continue to show up and help,” she wrote, acknowledging their assistance to CJP and others requiring legal support.

Assam Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh quote-posted her remarks, raising concerns about the availability of assistance for students who had turned up for the October 10 protest.

“Yes Ratna, we understand. But if you people go incommunicado, please keep a second line of volunteers ready,” Reetam Singh wrote.

He said the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) legal cell had continued receiving distress calls from students who attended the protest but did not know where to go for help. According to him, the IYC president, Uday Bhanu, subsequently formed a rapid response team of lawyers to assist students and detainees, with Roopesh coordinating the efforts.

Reetam Singh urged CJP to use the lawyers offered by the Congress-affiliated organisation until its own arrangements were in place. He also called on the party to maintain a functioning telephone line so that students could access assistance when needed.

“Jammers block information at protest sites,” he said, arguing that communication disruptions aggravated anxiety among students and the parents of detained protesters.

The exchange has highlighted differences between the two sides over the coordination of legal assistance during the crackdown. While Ratna Singh stressed the contribution of independent lawyers and the ongoing expansion of CJP’s legal team, the Congress spokesperson said a backup system was necessary to ensure that students could reach lawyers when the primary point of contact was unavailable.

The wider political backdrop includes a separate confrontation on October 12, when the Congress-led Opposition planned a march to the Supreme Court over the voter-list revision. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined to meet Congress representatives, saying the court should not be drawn into political disputes.

ALSO READ: ‘World doesn’t revolve around your party’: CJP’s Saurav Das hits back at Congress over protest row