"Don't Be Sentimental": CJI Surya Kant On ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ Viral Campaign

The Chief Justice of India today told a petitioner not to take the 'Cockroach Janata Party' trend so seriously. After a lawyer orally mentioned a petition concerning the issue for urgent listing, the CJI Surya Kant said he would take up the issue in due course.

Advocate NK Goswami submitted that despite the clarification given by the Chief Justice of India, a "distorted and malicious narrative is being continued." "Don't take it so sentimentally," CJI Surya Kant told the lawyer.

Notably, a Public Interest Litigation has been also filed before the Supreme Court raising concerns over what it describes as the “commercial exploitation” and “algorithmic distortion” of judicial proceedings in the age of viral social media culture. The plea stems from proceedings held on May 15, 2026 in Sanjay Dubey vs Registrar General, High Court of Delhi & Anr., during which certain metaphorical expressions, including the word “cockroach”, were allegedly used in the course of courtroom exchanges concerning procedural misuse of courts, Senior Advocate designations, and declining professional standards within the legal system.

The plea specifically refers to activities allegedly associated with a so-called “Cockroach Janta Party,” claiming that courtroom exchanges are being converted into “digitally marketable content, political symbolism and viral commodities.”

According to the petition filed through AoR Rajesh Singh Chauhan clipped portions of the oral observations were subsequently circulated online in isolation, turned into memes, mimicked, monetised, and amplified through social media algorithms without the surrounding judicial context. The plea argues that constitutional courts today increasingly operate within “digital ecosystems governed by outrage algorithms, trolling cultures, meme warfare, emotional mobilisation and monetised virality,” where courtroom interactions are transformed into “viral spectacles detached from procedural context and constitutional seriousness.”

The petitioner contends that Indian constitutional discourse itself has long employed symbolic expressions such as “Jungle Raj,” “watchdog,” “marketplace of ideas,” and “fraud on the Constitution” to communicate institutional concerns. “The constitutional issue before this Court is not criticism of judiciary,” the petition states, adding that “solemn constitutional proceedings between the Bench and the Bar are sought to be converted into digitally marketable content, political symbolism, viral commodities and monetised spectacle.”

The PIL also raises broader sociological concerns, claiming that vernacular and non-metropolitan styles of institutional speech are often subjected to ridicule within elite digital ecosystems. It warns that constitutional office holders and institutions are increasingly vulnerable to “organised digital humiliation” and outrage-driven online culture.

It is to be noted that the Chief Justice of India had later clarified his controversial "Parasites" remark, stating that media has misquoted his oral observations which were made during hearing of a frivolous case. “I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday. What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites," the CJI Surya Kant had said.

"It is totally baseless to suggest that I criticised the youth of our nation. Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me. It is not an exaggeration to say that Indian youth have great regard and respect for me, and I too see them as the pillars of a developed India,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had further said on his statement on youth, misquoted by a section of media.

Mentioning Date: May 25, 2026

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Pancholi