The Delhi High Court has reportedly ordered the unblocking of Cockroach Janta Party’s X account, more than one and a half months after it was withheld in India under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
As per The Indian Express, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed the unblocking after the Centre informed the court that it had “no objection”.
Account was blocked in view of NEET: “It was blocked at a time when the NEET examination was to take place. Lakhs of students were to appear… several posts (on X) which would’ve created chaos among students and parents. Now the examination is over,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, was quoted as saying in the report.
Justice Sharma then said that the account should be unblocked.
The government said it had “no difficulty with the unblocking of the account,” adding that it only wanted people to be more “circumspect”.
It is worth noting that messaging platform Telegram was also restricted in India for a week under Section 69A of the IT Act ahead of the NEET re-exam, in a move that the National Testing Agency said was meant to shield students from cheating rackets operating on the platform.
Misuse of state power? The Centre’s blocking of Cockroach Janta Party’s X account under Section 69A of the IT Act drew sharp criticism online, with the Internet Freedom Foundation calling it “a blatant misuse of State power and an arbitrary and disproportionate attempt to stifle freedom of speech and expression, a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India”.
The Indian Express had previously reported that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the blocking orders to X following inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, which cited a threat to the sovereignty of India, jeopardising national security, and the account’s growing popularity among young people.
“The Indian Express’s report mentions that ‘blocking orders are issued under a confidential framework’ which is deeply concerning. We remind the Union Government that the Supreme Court of India upheld Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) on the basis that it is a narrowly drawn provision with several safeguards in place, including written reasoning for the blocking that is subject to legal challenge. State censorship like the blocking of CJP’s X account propagates opacity and provides affected users with no options for redressal, thereby effectively defeating these safeguards,” IFF said.
You can read a complete timeline of the Cockroach Janta Party saga here.
Why this matters:
- Section 69A opacity: This is not an isolated incident. MediaNama has tracked multiple accounts, including of journalists and satirists, that have been blocked following government orders since February 2026. In March, several X users reported that their posts had been withheld in India under Section…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
