The court ordered the setting up of a committee to review all aspects of the matter and place its findings on record before the next hearing on July 7
NEW DELHI —The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and social media platform X after Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke challenged the blocking of the group’s social media accounts.
The court did not immediately order the restoration of the X account, but it directed the setting up of a review committee under the Information Technology Rules to examine the matter and submit its report before July 7.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav also allowed Dipke to appear before the committee virtually. During the hearing, the court observed that if the panel finds the blocking unjustified, it has the authority to revoke the order and restore the account.
The case will now be heard again on July 7. The court said the committee should review all aspects of the matter and place its findings on record before the next hearing.
“It is directed that before the next date of hearing, let the review committee examine all such aspects. Let the decision be placed on record,” the court said.
Representing Dipke, senior advocate Akhil Sibal argued that the Cockroach Janta Party account was meant purely as satire. He said that if certain posts were considered objectionable, authorities could have restricted only the specific tweets instead of blocking the entire account.
Sibal also requested interim relief, seeking temporary restoration of the handle. He pointed out that the blocking order had not yet been shared with the petitioner.
However, the court said it would wait for the Centre’s response before considering any immediate relief. Justice Kaurav noted that laws around social media blocking are still evolving and said the matter should not be rushed without hearing all sides.
At the same time, the judge suggested that the petitioner could raise his concerns before the review committee in the meantime.
Sibal referred to previous court orders where only specific offending posts were withheld instead of entire accounts being blocked. But the court observed that this case appeared different in nature.
According to the court, earlier matters involved isolated tweets that were considered objectionable, whereas in the present case, the authorities seemed to believe that the overall activity of the account itself was problematic.
The satirical digital outfit’s X account was withheld in India on May 21 after the Centre reportedly acted on inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, citing national security concerns.
The Cockroach Janata Party had quickly gained massive online attention, attracting more than 22 million followers on Instagram and becoming a viral internet phenomenon.
Even after its X account was blocked, the group launched another account titled “Cockroach is Back,” carrying the slogan, “Cockroaches Don’t Die.”
Dipke also claimed that his personal X account and the organisation’s official Instagram page were hacked. He further alleged that the backup Instagram account was removed and the outfit’s website was shut down within days of the crackdown.
Following the action against the group’s online platforms, Dipke criticised the Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of behaving in a dictatorial manner.
The Cockroach Janta Party emerged after controversy surrounding remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, where he referred to the unemployed youth of the country as “parasites” and “cockroaches”.
However, the CJI later clarified that his comments had been “misrepresented” and were specifically aimed at individuals entering the legal profession using fake or bogus degrees.
