From CJI's comment to CJI's court, full-circle moment for Cockroach Janta Party: ‘Will hear in due course’

AWord spoken in a courtroom just 10 years agone has at present returned to the same margaret court as the nub of two petitions. A lot has happened in between, with “cockroach” now becoming the motif of an online movement, taking its name from a comment by the Chief Justice of India.On Monday, when advocate NK Goswami mentioned his plea against the Cockroach Janta Party before CJI Surya Kant's bench, and said the satirical movement was tarnishing the image of judiciary, the CJI reportedly remarked, “Don't take it so sentimentally.”Another petition was filed by advocate Raja Choudhary, who mainly sought a probe into alleged fake lawyers, but also sought action against alleged “commercial exploitation and monetised circulation” of oral courtroom observations, news agency PTI reported. Choudhary said a probe should be carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).The bench of the CJI and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and VM Pancholi declined to grant any priority in hearing, saying "there is no such grave urgency" and that the matter would be examined in due course.The remark that started itAdvocate Choudhary made specific mention of oral courtroom observations made during recent proceedings before the apex court. That's because, the satirical social media movement came in response to an oral comment made by CJI.The CJI had spoken about the menace of fake law degrees in the context of a lawyer seeking Senior Advocate designation.“There are already parasites of society who attack the system and you want to join hands with them?” the CJI had said, as HT reported earlier."There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment and don't have a place in a profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone," he had further remarked.Video clips of the comments went viral, particularly among young people agitated over unemployment and exam paper leaks such as the recent irregularities in the NEET-UG medical admission entrance test.The CJI sought to later clarify that he'd been "misquoted" and his comments were directed at individuals entering professions with fake degrees, not at unemployed youth at large.By then, political communication strategist Abhijeet Dipke from Maharashtra, currently a student at Boston University in the US , had launched social media pages titled Cockroach Janta Party, adopting the word as the movement's identity. The logo had a cockroach, predictably.What the CJP says it isThe outfit has accumulated nearly 23 million followers on Instagram in under two weeks.Group chief Dipke has faced sharp barbs and allegations from the ruling BJP — including that he has “Pakistani followers”, which he has rebutted citing stats — and faced legal action on his X account. His Insta handle and website have also been allegedly hacked and later restored.He has expressed fear he'd be “put into Tihar Jail” if and when he returns to India. Police have, meanwhile, stationed a cover outside his parents' home “to avoid crowding”, while his mother and father have both said they are worried for him.But the CJP handle continues to share videos of people in several places in India holding peaceful, anti-corruption protests dressed as “cockroaches”, or painting graffiti, or holding up printouts of the CJP's website banner at random public places. On Sunday, the CJP posted a statement on its Instagram page outlining its direction hereafter: “Cockroaches are the ultimate survivors, thriving in the dark crevices and outlasting every attempt to shut them down. That's what being young in this country often feels like — mistreated, neglected and overlooked, but never giving up on life.”Also read | ‘Just getting started’: Cockroach Janta Party outlines what next after massive response, calls for suggestions The movement said it intended to build “an independent, youth-driven movement focused on amplifying the concerns of young people and holding the government accountable”, adding that its values were rooted in the Constitution."We believe in secularism, democracy and social justice," it stated, and plans to collect suggestions to “turn the best ideas into focused campaigns”. On the crackdown it has faced, the post described it as “unfortunate, but not entirely shocking.”“We will raise these issues constructively without descending into partisan politics,” read the CJP statement.Dipke has worked in the past with the AAP that also emerged from an anti-establishment moment in 2011-12 against the then Congress-led UPA regime.Now, BJP's NDA ally from Andhra Pradesh, the state's ruling TDP, has termed the “cockroach” movement "an outcome of youth's frustration" that “shouldn't be viewed politically”. Leaders from the main Opposition party Congress and the TMC from Bengal, for instance, have expressed support on the issues raised by the CJP.But one of two petitions in the Supreme Court takes a whole different angle to the movement, arguing it made money off the CJI's oral remarks. "The Petitioner respectfully submits that subsequent developments, including activities associated with 'Cockroach Janta Party,' alleged trademark-commercial assertions, branding campaigns, and monetised digital circulation, prima facie demonstrate organised commercial appropriation of judicial controversy and oral courtroom interaction," it states.