Court orders Indian gov. to unblock Cockroach Party's X account

An Indian court directed the federal government to unblock the X account of the youth Cockroach ​Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday, more than a month ‌since it went offline after amassing some 200,000 followers within days of being created, its founder and a lawyer involved in the ​case said.

The government had justified the move in ​court by citing concerns that posts from the ⁠account could cause chaos during a national medical college ​entrance examination that had to be reconducted after its question papers ​were leaked.

The CJP, which has been communicating with its X followers via an alternate account, has been holding sit-in protests for the ​last fortnight demanding the education minister's resignation over the issue.

The ​Delhi High Court order came after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‌government ⁠said it had no objection to the account being unblocked, the lawyer told Reuters.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, in a post on X, termed the decision a "big win" for the ​party, the ​movement, and ⁠for "free speech and digital rights".

The account remained withheld in India on Tuesday evening, "in response to ​a legal demand", its page said.

The CJP, ​which ⁠describes itself as representing "the lazy, the unemployed, and the chronically correct", has almost 22 million followers on its Instagram page.

Modi's ⁠Bharatiya ​Janata Party, which has termed the ​group part of "an anti-India gang", has little over 9 million followers.

-Reuters