SC declines urgent hearing on plea seeking CBI probe against Cockroach Janta Party | India News

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the request for an urgent hearing on the petition seeking action against the Cockroach Janta  Party (CJP) stating that the same shall be listed in “due course of time”.The bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant was hearing a request for out-of-turn hearing of a petition filed by advocate Raja Chaudhary demanding action against the CJP and all persons allegedly involved in the commercial exploitation of the top court’s observations.The plea filed on Sunday also sought probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the issue of fake advocates, fraudulent law degrees, impersonation within legal practice, and deterioration of professional standards in the legal profession.Responding to the mentioning by a lawyer appearing on behalf of Chaudhary, the bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said, “There is no grave urgency. We will consider it in due course of time.”Advocate NK Goswami, appearing through videoconferencing referred to the same issue and said that it is very unfortunate that the comments made by the court have been distorted despite the clarification issued by CJI. The bench told Goswami, “Don’t take it so sentimentally.”Also Read:Plea filed in Supreme Court seeking CBI probe against ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ activitiesOn May 15 the CJI made comments referring to “such youngsters” who acquire fake degrees and gain entry into professions and target institutions.Chaudhary’s petition lamented how a digital-political formation such as CJP has been leveraging on such distorted statements for purposes of gaining publicity, online engagement, merchandise circulation, satire branding, and potential commercial exploitation.The plea said, “Selective extraction and sensational dissemination of oral exchanges increasingly distort administration of justice and transform judicial proceedings into media spectacle…Constitutional morality cannot permit constitutional institutions or constitutional office holders to become vulnerable to organised digital humiliation, sociological gatekeeping, or commercially amplified outrage campaigns.”With regard to CJP and persons allied to it Chaudhary demanded the court to direct “competent authorities to examine and take action against persons or entities allegedly involved in commercial exploitation, trade mark appropriation, monetised circulation, or unauthorised commercial use of oral courtroom observations and symbolic expressions arising from proceedings before the Supreme Court of India, including activities associated with Cockroach Janta Party.”The petition said that judicial decisions have recognised fair criticism, democratic dissent, satire, and constitutionally protected free speech. However, commercial and trade exploitation of solemn judicial proceedings and institutional expressions cannot be permitted in a manner undermining public confidence in judiciary and administration of justice, it added.The petition raised concerns that if solemn courtroom interaction is continuously transformed into fragments of entertainment, trolling, commercial branding, and monetised spectacle detached from procedural context, the constitutional promise of justice itself risks gradual erosion within algorithmic outrage culture.“The issue concerns preservation not merely of institutional reputation, but of constitutional governance itself in the age of viral algorithmic media,” Chaudhary stated in his petition filed through advocate Rajesh Singh Chauhan.The CJI on May 15  said, “There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone.”The comment came while hearing a petition filed by a lawyer seeking senior designation at the Delhi high court.A day later, the CJI took strong exception to certain media reports linking his comments as comparing the country’s youngsters as cockroaches. He issued a clarification stating that his comments were misquoted.He said, “What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees.” The clarification further stated that “Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites.”He termed the news reports linking his comment on cockroaches to the youth as “totally baseless” and said, “Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me...I too see them as the pillars of a developed India.”The petition also cited a recent news report quoting the Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra claiming that “35 to 40% of those seen in courts wearing black coats and bands are fake” and sought an independent probe in this regard.