Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Wednesday that he will appear before a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology review committee at 3 PM in connection with the withholding of CJP’s X account in India.

“Today at 3 PM, I will personally appear before the Review Committee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology regarding the withholding of our account, @CJP_2029,” Dipke wrote on X.

Hearing follows appeal against blocking: The hearing comes after MeitY asked Dipke to be physically present before an inter-ministerial committee on June 24 to hear his appeal against the blocking of CJP’s original X handle. On May 21, authorities withheld the account in India under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The government has not publicly disclosed the reasons for the blocking.

Background: Dipke launched CJP’s X account, @CJP_2029, on May 16. The account gained more than 2 lakh followers within four days before X withheld it in India “in response to a legal demand.” Reacting to the move, Dipke wrote, “Cockroach Janta Party’s account was started on 16th May. Within 4 days, the account got banned because it got more than 200K following.”

The online collective, led by Dipke, describes itself as a youth-led satirical political movement. It has used memes and online campaigns to raise issues such as unemployment, exam paper leaks, political accountability and free speech. The Instagram page remained active after X withheld the account and had crossed 20 million followers by late May.

The blocking order triggered further legal and platform-related developments. On May 23, MeitY also blocked CJP’s website, cockroachjantaparty.org, though it was later accessible again.

Delhi High Court challenge: On May 25, Dipke moved the Delhi High Court challenging the blocking order issued under Section 69A. The case has added to a broader debate over the government’s use of account-level takedown orders, as authorities often do not publicly disclose blocking directions, citing confidentiality provisions under the IT Blocking Rules.

The hearing is taking place while Dipke is leading a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. According to The Hindu, a CJP source described MeitY’s summons as a “fresh escalation” after police action to clear the protest site and Dipke’s allegations that access to food, water and washrooms was disrupted.

Part of wider takedown concerns: The CJP account withholding is part of a broader pattern of recent online restrictions in India, where journalists, digital media platforms, satirical pages and political commentators have reported account restrictions or content takedowns in response to legal demands. In some cases, courts have reversed account-level takedowns while allowing appeal processes for individual posts or videos to continue.

This is a developing story. We will update this report as more details emerge from the hearing.

Also read:

• Centre Plans To Expand Social Media Blocking Powers To Multiple Ministries: Report
• MeitY Notifies New Amendments to IT Rules to Regulate Synthetic Media and Deepfakes
• MeitY’s New IT Rules on Synthetic Media Explained: What Platforms & Users Must Know
• X Users Report Posts Withheld In India Under Section 69A, No Reasons Given