The online satirical movement, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was dealt another major blow on Friday as the Delhi High Court (HC) refused to restore the party official ‘X’ account with immediate effect, which had been taken down weeks ago. The court observed that certain content posted on the handle appeared to be ‘slightly offensive.’

A bench of the HC, headed by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the matter required a ‘holistic consideration’ and clarified that no interim order would be passed until the court heard submissions from both the Centre and officials from the social media platform ‘X’. 

Dipke had approached court earlier

Notably, the movement’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, had challenged the withholding of the party’s ‘X’ account in India a few days ago. During the proceedings, the bench assured the Centre’s counsel that the government’s arguments would be heard at length before any decision was taken regarding the account’s restoration. 

Senior advocate Akhil Sibal, appearing on Dipke’s behalf, urged the court to immediately issue orders for the restoration of the social media handle. He contended that even if some allegedly objectionable posts remained restricted, the entire account should not continue to remain accessible. 

He also reflected on earlier cases involving social media restrictions, arguing that courts had granted interim relief in similar situations. However, the bench observed that the present case differed from the cases reported in the past. Reports quoted Justice Kaurav as saying, “There seems to be a slight difference between other cases and in this case. In this case what seems to be the reason is that the entire activity is per se slightly offending.” 

CJP began as a satirical outfit, transformed into viral political movement

The CJP began as a satirical social media movement but rapidly snowballed into an online political phenomenon, especially among young netizens and sections of the Opposition ecosystem. The outfit surfaced after the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Surya Kant made remarks during a court hearing, referring to several persons as ‘cockroaches,’ who enter into the judiciary by means of bogus degrees and attack the system. 

The term ‘cockroaches’ was soon reclaimed by social media users, eventually emerging as the central identity of the CJP movement.