The Delhi High Court ordered restoration of the Cockroach Janta Party’s X account after the Centre withdrew its objection. The government stated the account was blocked during NEET examinations to prevent panic among students and parents, but the circumstances no longer existed after the exams concluded.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed that the X (formerly Twitter) account of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) be restored after the Central government informed the Court that it no longer had any objection to the account being unblocked.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the order after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, submitted that the circumstances that had led to the blocking of the account no longer existed and the government was not opposed to restoring access.
The order came while hearing a petition filed by CJP founder Abhijit Dipke challenging the government’s decision to block the social media account on grounds of national security.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta explained that the decision to block the account had been taken during the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), when authorities feared that certain online posts could create confusion and panic among students and their families.
Mehta told the Court,
“It was blocked at a time when NEET examination was to take place. Lakhs of students were to appear. Several posts (on X) which would have created chaos among student and parents. Now the examination is over,”
Taking note of the government’s stand, Justice Sharma observed that if the concerns no longer survived, the account ought to be restored. The Solicitor General responded:
“I have no difficulty. I just want everyone to be more circumspect,”
In view of the Centre’s statement, the High Court allowed the petition and directed that the X account of the Cockroach Janta Party be unblocked.
The petition was filed by Abhijit Dipke after the Centre ordered X to withhold access to the account, citing national security considerations. Dipke challenged the blocking order before the Delhi High Court, arguing that the action was arbitrary and violated the group’s right to free expression on social media.
The petition was filed through advocate Nakul Gandhi of NG Law Chambers. According to reports, the blocking order was issued following intelligence inputs received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which allegedly raised concerns relating to national security.
Based on those inputs, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed X to block the account under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, a provision that empowers the government to restrict online content in the interest of national security, public order and other specified grounds.
The matter first came up before the High Court on May 29. At that stage, Justice Sharma declined to order immediate restoration of the account, observing that such a direction could not be issued without first hearing the Central government because the issue involved wider public consequences.
The Court had also indicated that it would examine whether X could be directed to place the blocking order on record after receiving a comprehensive response from the Union government.
However, during Tuesday’s hearing, the Centre withdrew its objection to restoring the account, paving the way for the Court to dispose of the petition by directing that the account be unblocked.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) emerged earlier this year as a satirical online movement that quickly gained enormous popularity, particularly among younger social media users.
Using humour, memes and political satire, the collective comments on issues such as unemployment, institutional accountability, freedom of expression and governance.
Within a short period, the movement amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on X and reportedly attracted more than 22 million followers on Instagram, making it one of the fastest-growing satirical online communities in the country. The movement was founded by Abhijit Dipke, an Indian-origin resident of Boston, United States.
The name “Cockroach Janta Party” traces its origin to observations made during Supreme Court proceedings on May 15. While hearing a matter concerning the legal profession, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed concern over the growing number of unemployed law graduates who, according to the Court, were increasingly turning towards social media and Right to Information (RTI) activism instead of legal practice.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice remarked:
“There are youngsters like cockroaches who are not getting employment in the profession. Some are on social media, some become RTI activists,”
The remarks sparked widespread debate across social media, eventually inspiring the creation of the Cockroach Janta Party as a satirical response. Subsequently, the Chief Justice clarified that the observations were not intended to demean unemployed young Indians. Instead, he explained that the comments were directed at individuals who allegedly entered professions by using forged qualifications or fake degrees.
Apart from its online presence, the Cockroach Janta Party has also organised public demonstrations. The group has been holding protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities and question paper leaks in the NEET examination and other competitive recruitment tests.
It was against this backdrop, and amid concerns regarding online posts during the NEET examination period, that the Centre temporarily blocked the group’s X account. With the examination now concluded and the government expressing no further objection, the Delhi High Court directed restoration of the account, bringing the legal challenge to an end while reminding all parties to exercise restraint in their use of social media.
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