Don’t take it so sentimentally, CJI tells lawyer who complains of online ‘distortion’ of ‘cockroach’ remark
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday (May 25, 2026) asked a lawyer not to take the ongoing online frenzy over his (CJI Kant’s) reported use of the word “cockroach” in court proceedings so “sentimentally”.
The chief justice was reacting to a lawyer, advocate NK Goswami, who expressed concern over the manner in which the courtroom observation was being “misrepresented” online despite an explanation from the chief justice.
The CJI’s reported remark about “cockroaches” referring to fake law degree holders during the hearing of the writ petition on 15 May 2026 created a public uproar and the Cockroach Janta Party’s online platform went viral.
The Chief Justice clarified in a statement the following day that he was misquoted by sections of the media and had the utmost concern and respect for the youth of the country.
On Monday, Chief Justice Kant said there was “no urgency” to deal with a suit filed by a high court lawyer seeking to probe the “activities” of a “digital-political formation”, the Cockroach Janta Party, and the commercial use, trademark appropriation and monetization of oral remarks made in court proceedings.
The petitioner, advocate Raja Choudhary, has summoned the Union government, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Indian Bar Association and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as respondents in the case.
Mr Choudhary, represented by lawyer Rajesh Singh Chouhan, said the petition was not an attack on fair criticism, democratic dissent, satire and constitutionally protected freedom of expression, but a call for organized commercial exploitation and twisting of solemn court hearings into a “viral spectacle” online.
Court hearings and exchanges between judges and lawyers are turning into clipped fragments, outrage algorithms, trolling cultures, meme warfare, emotional mobilization and monetized virality, Mr. Choudhary said.
“Individual fragments of oral proceedings are selectively edited, memefied, imitated, commercially disseminated and transformed into viral digital content divorced from constitutional and procedural context,” the petition states.
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The vernacular, culturally direct and non-elite modes of institutional speech associated with rural and non-metropolitan traditions have increasingly been subjected to disproportionate ridicule within elite digital ecosystems, the petition states.
The petition argued that the spontaneous use of metaphorical terms such as “cockroach” reflected only institutional frustration and procedural anxiety over the deterioration of lawyers’ standards. The petition demanded that the CBI investigate the spread of fake law degrees across the country.
Mr Choudhary argued that metaphorical references involving animals, insects, vermin, creatures or symbolic images have historically existed in literature, jurisprudence, constitutional discourse, political theory and legal philosophy.
Such expressions, he argues, are recognized tools for expressing institutional anxiety, bureaucratic alienation, procedural breakdowns, the breakdown of communication between individuals and authorities, and symbolic commentary on social behavior.
India’s constitutional discourse and judicial tradition have historically used metaphors like “jungle paradise”, “watchdog”, “guinea pig” to describe governance failures, institutional accountability and constitutional anxieties, the petition said.
Published – 25 May 2026 12:01 IST