Tense exchange over ‘dissent in India’ question at CJI Surya Kant's London lecture event; Cockroach Party flags videos

AT an case at a university in jack london where Chief justness of republic of india Surya immanuel kant was a main speaker, a tense exchange took place between attendees who sought to ask him questions on dissent allegedly being suppressed in India, and the anchor who said those questions were off-topic.The CJI delivered a lecture on ‘Artificial Intelligence and International Law’ at the Birkbeck College of University of London.Video clips of the question being asked, and of student shouting, “Give us some respect please!” — apparently during an interactive part of the event after his lecture — were re-shared by Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the online movement Cockroach Janta Party.This movement, which has announced a June 6 protest in Delhi over recent exam-related controversies in India, itself takes its name from the CJI's use of the words “cockroaches” and “parasites” last month while speaking on fake degree-holders and “unemployed youth becoming activists”.What was the question?The tense exchange, as seen in the clips shared by Das and others on X, began after an attendee said to the CJI during the session, “His Lordship made some very important points, I think, about the Indian track record of protecting democracy in the context of AI.”She then added, “We now hear from a number of legal observers within the country as well as internationally that there's a great deal of concern about growing hostility to dissent within India. And it does seem that this hostility is somewhat reflected in His Lordship's speech and it's very well publicised,” referring apparently to his recent remarks.Before she could form the question, one of the men on stage can be seen saying, “With all due respect, I'm so sorry, I would not be able to take up that question since the topic is concerning artificial intelligence and international law. So sorry. I'm extremely sorry, I'm extremely sorry. We'll have to cut it off.” The clip ends here. In another clip, another attendee is seen protesting and demanding respect.The episode echoed a similar confrontation during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Norway in May, his first to the country and the first by an Indian PM in over four decades.After a joint statement with Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store concluded in Oslo without a question-and-answer session, local journalist Helle Lyng called out to Modi as he stepped away from the podium: "Prime Minister Modi, why don't you take some questions from the freest press in the world?" Modi did not respond and walked away. She later pressed the point further at a Ministry of External Affairs briefing, raising questions on trust, human rights and press freedom.Indian officials defended the PM, saying the event was a pre-arranged joint media statement rather than an open press conference, and that leaders are not scheduled to take questions at such briefings. They also cited India's history and constitution to reject the journalist's assertions.What CJI said in his lectureIn his lecture, the CJI said on AI that choices made during this decade will shape the relationship between technology, power, freedom, and justice for generations to come.“Technology itself is neither inherently benevolent nor inherently harmful. Its impact depends upon the legal, political, and ethical frameworks within which societies choose to deploy it. The responsibility of law, therefore, is neither to resist technological progress nor to surrender unquestioningly before it. Its responsibility is to ensure that technological power remains accountable to constitutional values, democratic legitimacy, and human dignity,” he said, as per news agency PTI.He also said artificial intelligence poses one of the most significant tests for international law in its modern evolution. “The central challenge before us is to ensure that, in an age of intelligent machines, humanity retains authorship of the principles by which it is governed. If international law can rise to that challenge, artificial intelligence may become not merely a technological revolution, but an opportunity to reaffirm the values that lie at the foundation of democratic civilisation itself.”CJI Kant is on a six-day UK trip.Thanking Birkbeck college for hosting the conversation, the CJI said at moments of profound technological transformation, dialogue between courts, universities, governments, and civil societies becomes indispensable."Ultimately, the future of artificial intelligence will be shaped not only by innovation but by the legal and moral choices that humanity collectively chooses to make," he said and highlighted that the challenge before the international community is not merely to regulate technological capability, but to preserve legal responsibility in environments where decision-making is increasingly mediated through algorithmic systems.He added that if responsibility becomes too fragmented to identify, accountability itself risks becoming illusory.