New Delhi: The founder of the viral satirical outfit Cockroach Janta Party, Abhijit Dipke, has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the blocking of the party’s X account. Dipke has alleged that the account was blocked on national security grounds shortly after the party’s social media handles were allegedly hacked.

The Cockroach Janta Party gained massive traction online over the past few days through satirical political content, memes and social media campaigns. The movement quickly became popular among younger users, with its content widely shared across platforms like X and Instagram.

In a post shared from his personal X account, Dipke claimed that the party first lost access to its Instagram handle before its X account was blocked. “Cockroach Janta Party’s official Instagram account has been hacked. We have lost access to the account,” he wrote.

According to Dipke, the suspension happened soon after the alleged hacking incident. He has now approached the Delhi High Court seeking restoration of the account and relief against the blocking action.

Movement emerged after CJI’s remark

The ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ movement emerged after an oral observation made during a Supreme Court hearing where the Chief Justice of India compared unemployed youth attacking systems through online activism to “cockroaches”. The remark later triggered strong reactions online.

The CJI later clarified that the comment was aimed at individuals with fake degrees and not unemployed youth in general. Despite the clarification, the phrase soon turned into a social media trend, leading to the rise of the satirical online movement.

Within days, the party’s social media handles gathered millions of followers before eventually being suspended.

Supreme Court mentions and trademark applications

On Monday, a lawyer mentioned the issue before the Supreme Court, seeking urgent listing of a petition connected to the Cockroach Janta Party matter. Advocate NK Goswami argued that despite the clarification by the Chief Justice of India, a “distorted and malicious narrative” was still being circulated online.

Chief Justice Surya Kant responded by telling the petitioner not to take the issue “so sentimentally”. Another petition linked to the controversy was also mentioned before the court to seek directions against monetising oral court remarks and demanded a CBI investigation into fake lawyers.

However, the court said there was no urgency in the matter and that it would be listed in due course. Meanwhile, two trademark applications have reportedly been filed for the term “Cockroach Janta Party”.