Coordinated legal push by CJP, Left teams secures bail for 16
Times of India | 29 July 2026
Kolkata: A coordinated legal effort by a battery of state lawyers, working alongside the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) teams in Delhi and Kolkata, culminated in bail for all 16 arrested accused on Tuesday.
These lawyers, according to Calcutta High Court lawyer Samim Ahmed, came together in “hundreds” to defend the 16 at the Bankshall Court. The CJP Delhi’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das on July 27 night, replying to a ‘X’ query on what happens to the ones arrested in Bengal, said the CJP Delhi was working to resolve it.
Ahmed told TOI that he had a talk with Das on Monday night regarding the case status. “From the very beginning we are with CJP and since we are supporting their cause, there was a refusal from Kolkata Police. The moment the protest happened, we contacted the Delhi CJP,” he said.
In the short span of time that the lawyers were huddled together to fight these cases, Ahmed said, there were hundreds of lawyers acting together. “I was one of them, who was communicating with others. When there is state oppression, then people gather together at their own volition.”
The case came up before the magistrate around 2.30 pm. “Though initially no relief was given. They had some compulsion because of the resolution and the pressure that had built up by the time. Ultimately, the 16 were released on bail…It is one step towards saving our Constitution,” Ahmed said, adding that the cases against these accused are yet to be withdrawn.
While lawyers worked in courts to ensure their release, eight left organisations — AISA, AIDSO, AISB, AISF, DYSA, SFI, PDSF and PSU — hit the streets on Tuesday around 2.30 pm in the College Street area, nearly 3.4 kilometres away from the court, demanding withdrawal of all false cases against the protesters.
The collective feeling of “victory of a student movement” took over these organisations the moment the judge ordered the grant of bail.
AISA state joint-secretary Barsha Baral said, “This is a major victory for the movement, showing that protests or dissenting voices cannot be suppressed in this manner. When students and youth took to the streets with their rightful demands, arrests were made targeting a minority group. If similar attempts are made in the future, we will take to the streets again.”
The central executive committee member of SFI, Shuvajit Sarkar, too, called it a victory, wanting “witch-hunting” on the basis of community and surnames to come to an end. "Else, students may launch an even larger nation-wide movement.”