Delhi High Court declines to immediately restore Cockroach Janta Party X account

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to immediately restore the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party’s account on the social media platform X, reported Bar and Bench.

Issuing notices to the Union government and X, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the court would consider the matter after hearing them. They were directed to file their responses within four weeks.

Kaurav added that the petition filed by Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the campaign, needed to be “considered holistically” as it could have “far-reaching” implications and “wider ramifications”.

The account of the campaign had been blocked on May 21 “in response to a legal demand”. In his petition, Dipke challenged the government’s blocking order, which reportedly cited “national security concerns”.

During the hearing, the High Court directed the review committee constituted under the Information Technology Rules to examine the petitioner’s grievance before the next hearing, scheduled for July 6, Live Law reported.

The committee is required to meet every two months and is empowered to review blocking orders and direct unblocking if necessary, said the court.

It allowed Dipke, who lives in the United States, to seek permission to appear before the review committee through video conferencing.

This came after Dipke’s lawyer argued before the court that the account was based on “pure satire”. Even if certain posts were considered...

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