Cockroach Janta Party under legal scanner as PIL filed in SC over alleged misuse of court observations: What did it say?

A PUBLIC Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking legal action against Abhijeet Dipke's “Cockroach Janta Party” over allegations that it misused and commercially exploited verbal observations made by the apex court, according to ANI.

The petition has also called for an independent investigation, preferably by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI), into claims that individuals posing as advocates with fraudulent degrees are practising law.

“The emergence of entities and symbolic campaigns allegedly using courtroom expressions for publicity, trade applications, commercial engagement, and digital mobilisation demonstrates dangerous commodification of constitutional proceedings”, the plea said.

'Cockroach Rally' in Tamil Nadu

In an unusual and emotionally charged protest, hundreds of unemployed youths marched through Madurai on Sunday as part of what was described as Tamil Nadu’s first-ever “Cockroach Rally", as per PTI.

The protest was held to express anger over rising unemployment and controversial remarks by a senior Supreme Court judge that allegedly compared unemployed youth to cockroaches.

The rally was jointly organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI), and also drew support from followers of the “Cockroach Janata Party,” a satirical social media platform that recently gained widespread online attention.

The march began from the Gandhi Museum campus and concluded with a large demonstration near the Tamil Annai statue at Thamukkam Grounds.

Hundreds of educated unemployed graduates marched with placards carrying messages such as “We Want Work, We Want Life, We Want Respect.”

Several demonstrators also displayed posters describing the event as a “Rally of the Unemployed Cockroaches.” The protesters raised slogans against the Narendra Modi-led central government, accusing it of failing to fulfil its promise of generating 20 million jobs every year.

They also criticised the government over the sharp rise in petrol, diesel and essential commodity prices.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC) in Maharashtra have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of stifling public dissent, alleging that the government blocked the social media accounts of the satirical digital platform CJP following an Intelligence Bureau report warning of possible public unrest.

Former Maharashtra Congress presidents Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat claimed that instead of addressing the concerns of the youth, the poor and the unemployed, the government was attempting to suppress growing public anger.

What is Cockroach Janata Party?

The Cockroach Janata Party, as the satirical movement is known, was founded by Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University student who was previously associated with the Aam Aadmi Party. Despite being launched only a week ago, the outfit has already attracted more than 19 million followers on Instagram.

The platform emerged last week after controversy erupted over remarks reportedly made by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant referring to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing related to the ‘senior’ designation of a lawyer.

The CJI later clarified that his observations were aimed at individuals joining the legal profession using "fake and bogus degrees", which were misquoted.

Earlier this week, the CJP launched a campaign seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak issue.

Several politicians and activists have shown support for or interacted with the movement, including Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad and Akhilesh Yadav, along with activists such as Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Bharadwaj.