Don't take it sentimentally: Supreme Court turns down urgent hearing of plea against Cockroach Janta Party

The Supreme Court on Monday refused an urgent hearing of a plea for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the activities of persons associated with the Cockroach Janta Party - the satirical social media movement born out of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant's recent "cockroach" remark..When Advocate NK Goswami, appearing for the petitioner, said that the Party was tarnishing the image of the judiciary, a Bench of CJI Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and VM Pancholi said,"Don't take it so sentimentally."Another lawyer said that the petitioners are seeking a CBI probe into the issue of fake lawyer degrees, adding that courtroom exchanges cannot be used for commercial purposes. The CJI replied,"There is no such grave urgency. We will see.".The petition filed by Advocate Raja Choudhary also sought a probe into what he called fake advocates and fraudulent law degrees of persons associated with the movement.Further, he has also sought action against alleged commercial exploitation and monetised circulation of oral courtroom observations made during recent proceedings before the Supreme Court..The “Cockroach Janta Party” emerged earlier this month as a satirical online movement that gained traction across social media platforms, particularly among younger users.The movement was born out of Supreme Court proceedings held on May 15 during which the Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant expressed concerns over unemployed young lawyers drifting away from practice toward social media and RTI activism, remarking that such "youngsters like cockroaches" were becoming parasites in society."There are youngsters like cockroaches who are not getting employment in the profession. Some are on social media, some become RTI activists," the CJI said.The CJI later clarified that his observations were directed at individuals entering professions through forged qualifications and fake degrees, not unemployed young Indians generally..Unemployed youngsters in law like cockroaches; take to social media, RTI activism: CJI Surya Kant.However, the remark led to widespread criticism and also led to the birth of Cockroach Janta Party.The collective was reportedly started by Abhijeet Dipke, a resident of Boston, USA. It uses political satire to comment on issues such as unemployment, institutional accountability and media freedom.However, since then, the “Cockroach Janta Party” has evolved into a large online campaign, attracting significant traction on Instagram and other social media platforms while also spawning petitions, merchandise and online mobilisation efforts..According to the petition by Choudhary, certain metaphorical “cockroach” references used during spontaneous courtroom exchanges were subsequently selectively clipped, meme-ified, mimicked, commercially circulated and transformed into viral digital content detached from constitutional and procedural context..The plea has clarified that it is not directed against criticism of the judiciary, democratic dissent, satire or free speech protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Instead, it has alleged organised commercial exploitation, trademark-commercialisation, monetised viral circulation, meme-based distortion and algorithmically amplified digital commodification of oral courtroom proceedings. .CJI Surya Kant says media misquoted 'cockroaches' remark; criticism was against fake degree holders, not unemployed youth