Junaid Malik, who was a food volunteer during the recent Cockroach Janata Party student protests in Delhi, has moved the Supreme Court alleging that he was illegally detained and harassed by police officials and that his family members were subjected to coercive police action without due process.

Malik claims to be a law graduate and social worker who volunteered at the protest site for 35 days beginning June 20, 2026. According to the application, he coordinated the distribution of food and water but did not hold any formal leadership position in the agitation. The plea states that his work received media attention, following which he allegedly became the target of police action.

In his petition, Malik claims that, on July 24 midnight, when he was returning from RML hospital after taking an anti-rabies injection, he was picked up by police officials from Delhi and kept inside a vehicle for nearly five to six hours. During this period, he alleges that he was threatened and intimidated. His mobile phone was forcefully taken and the officials checked it after forcing him to unlock it.

The plea alleges that they were detained overnight in what appeared to be an interrogation room and questioned by senior police officers. It states that on the morning of July 25, officers questioned them about the source of funds for food distribution at the protest site, repeatedly abused them and threatened them with consequences, including invoking the National Security Act, unless they disclosed who was funding the protests.

Malik further alleges that instead of being taken home, he and his friend remained in custody for another five to six hours before being abandoned in a jungle about 16 kilometres from the Dehradun-Mussoorie Road. The plea states that the officers returned their mobile phones but directed them not to switch the devices on for an hour. He ultimately returned to Delhi by taking a cab from Dehradun.

The application also alleges that members of Malik's family were targeted. It claims that on July 23, his father was picked up from their residence in Ghaziabad and questioned for several hours about the family's bank accounts and Malik's whereabouts.

It further alleges that on July 24, a team of 10 to 12 police personnel raided the family's residence, searched the house, damaged furniture and demanded identity documents and bank account details of family members. The plea names two police officials. It also alleges that police detained Malik's brother-in-law and father-in-law in Meerut before releasing them after intervention by advocates.

The petition contends that these coercive actions were undertaken without any paperwork or compliance with the procedure established by law.

Seeking the Supreme Court's intervention, Malik has prayed for directions restraining the police from taking any further coercive action against his family members and ensuring that any investigation is conducted strictly in accordance with law.

The application states that police officials repeatedly pressured family members to persuade Malik to stop participating in the protests and disclose the source of funding. It alleges that the actions of the police violated the family's right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

"The detention of the family members, particularly when undertaken purportedly to exert pressure upon the Applicant, represents an abuse of the coercive powers of the State and strikes at the very core of the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty. Such conduct cannot be justified as a legitimate exercise of police power and warrants strict judicial scrutiny to ensure that the machinery of the State is not employed as an instrument of intimidation, coercion or retaliation against persons exercising their fundamental rights", the plea states.

The application has been filed in the writ petition filed by RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha seeking action against police violence during the CJP protests.

The application has been filed through Advocate-on-Record Neha Rathi.

Case: IA in Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha v. Union of India & Ors., Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 283 of 2026

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