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CJI says cockroach remark was misquoted with malicious intent
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said his remarks comparing some people to “cockroaches” were misquoted and circulated without context to mislead young Indians. In an interview with DD News, he…
The Story in Brief
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said his remarks comparing some people to “cockroaches” were misquoted and circulated without context to mislead young Indians. In an interview with DD News, he said clips of court proceedings were being misused on social media and urged responsible reporting. The remarks were made on May 15 while the Supreme Court heard a case involving allegedly fraudulent or unrecognised law degrees. The CJI said he was referring to people who enter the legal profession with fake degrees and attack the system.
National Herald India reports that the wording also referred broadly to “youngsters” and activists, prompting the satirical Cockroach Janta Party. It says protests and objections later emerged at TISS and NALSAR. Rediff reports that the CJI has also opposed commercial misuse of clipped court recordings.
The Indian Opinion
The lazy version is that social media simply invented an insult, while the opposite version treats the CJI’s words as an attack on every unemployed young Indian. The record supports neither claim. Context matters, but so do the words actually spoken, especially when they come from the country’s top judge. The NALSAR episode and the withdrawn Bar Council order also show that institutional trust cannot be demanded through warnings about harmony. The useful test is whether future courtroom clips are released with full context and whether student objections receive due process.
Sources (2): nationalheraldindia.com, rediff.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
