Delhi HC Declines Urgent Hearing in PIL Seeking Crowd-Control Measure Against Cockroach Janta Party’s Jantar Mantar Protest

A vacation bench of Justices Saurabh Banerjee and Amit Sharma on Friday, June 5, 2026, declined to grant urgent hearing to a public interest litigation filed by NGO Save India Foundation seeking preventive, regulatory and crowd-control measures in relation to the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) scheduled protest at Jantar Mantar on June 6.

The plea was mentioned before the vacation bench for urgent listing but the Court refused to advance the matter for hearing on a priority basis.

The PIL and Reliefs Sought

The Save India Foundation’s petition sought immediate crowd-control and preventive measures at all entry corridors to Delhi, including Indira Gandhi International Airport, metro stations and highway entry points, ahead of the CJP’s June 6 gathering. The petition also sought directions to relocate the scheduled protest to an alternative venue so as to ensure that public order is maintained and vital infrastructure and emergency services are not compromised.

The petition characterised the CJP’s mobilisation as fostering institutional defiance and hostility against the ruling dispensation, alleging that it had escalated into explicit hate speech and calls to topple a democratically elected government, with the petition drawing comparisons to civil unrest in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. The petitioner further flagged the CJP’s demand for the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as an ultimatum accompanied by threats of severe consequences.

Background: The CJP and the Protest

The Cockroach Janta Party emerged following Supreme Court proceedings on May 15, 2026, during which CJI Surya Kant made oral observations expressing concern over unemployed youth drifting toward social media and RTI activism, using a "cockroach" metaphor in the process. CJI Kant subsequently clarified that his remarks were directed at persons with fake degrees engaging in such activities, and not at unemployed young Indians generally. The CJP was started by Abhijeet Dipke, a resident of Boston, USA, and uses political satire to comment on issues of unemployment, institutional accountability and media freedom.

The June 6 protest at Jantar Mantar has been called by the CJP primarily in connection with the question paper leaks associated with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and controversies surrounding the CBSE board examinations, alongside the demand for Education Minister Pradhan’s resignation.

A Note on the Petitioner

The Save India Foundation has on prior occasions attracted adverse remarks from the Delhi High Court for filing PILs characterised by the Court as frivolous, including repeated petitions targeting mosques and dargahs. The Court’s refusal to grant urgent hearing in the present matter, while not accompanied by any recorded adverse observation, continues a pattern in which the Court has declined to treat the Foundation’s filings as warranting expedited judicial attention.

Case Reference

Petitioner: Save India Foundation 
Court: Delhi High Court 
Bench: Justice Saurabh Banerjee & Justice Amit Sharma  
Date: June 5, 2026 
Outcome: Urgent hearing declined