Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday refused to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought an investigation into the alleged “anti-national activities” of an organisation called “Cockroach Janta Party” and its social media operations.
The petitioner later withdrew the plea after the court questioned whether the Lucknow bench had the authority to hear the matter.
A vacation bench of Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary was hearing the PIL filed by S Vignesh Shishir.
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In the petition, Shishir alleged that Abhijeet Dipke, a native of Pune who is currently living in the United States, had founded an unregistered organisation named “Cockroach Janta Party”. The plea claimed that the group was involved in anti-national activities and was receiving foreign funding.
The petitioner sought an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The plea also alleged that accounts on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram and X were being used to influence and incite young people. It sought directions to the Centre to block or shut down such accounts.
During the hearing, the court noted that the petitioner had described himself as a permanent resident of Bengaluru in both the petition and the supporting affidavit.
The bench observed that the matter involved issues of national importance and said the petitioner should have first approached the Karnataka High Court.
The court also pointed out that the petition did not mention any specific cause of action that arose within Uttar Pradesh.
After the bench indicated that the PIL was not maintainable before the Lucknow bench due to lack of territorial jurisdiction, the petitioner sought permission to withdraw it and approach the appropriate court.
The court allowed the request, disposed of the PIL and granted liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh plea before a competent court.