Allahabad HC declines PIL on ‘Cockroach Janta Party’

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court declined to entertain a PIL seeking a probe into alleged anti-national activities of the unregistered "Cockroach Janta Party."

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation seeking a probe into alleged “anti-national activities” of Cockroach Janta Party and its use of social media platforms to incite youth.

The petitioner sought to withdraw the plea after the court raised questions over its territorial jurisdiction.

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A vacation bench comprising Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the order on a criminal PIL filed by petitioner S Vignesh Shishir.

The petitioner levelled allegations against Abhijeet Dipke, a Pune native currently residing in the United States, claiming that he had founded an unregistered organisation called “Cockroach Janta Party” that was allegedly involved in anti-national activities through foreign funding.

The plea sought a comprehensive investigation by the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate.

The petitioner also alleged that several handles on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram and X were being used to influence and incite the country’s youth and sought directions to the Centre to immediately block or shut down such accounts.

During the hearing, the bench noted that Shishir described himself as a permanent resident of Bengaluru in the petition and the accompanying affidavit.

The court observed that the matter raised issues of national importance and that the petitioner should have approached the Karnataka High Court first.

The bench further noted that the petition did not disclose any specific cause of action arising within Uttar Pradesh.

After the court indicated that the petition was not maintainable before the Lucknow bench on the ground of forum non conveniens, the petitioner sought permission to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach a court having competent jurisdiction.

Allowing the request, the bench disposed of the PIL and granted liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh petition before the appropriate court.