Published Jul 28, 2026 | 10:04 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 28, 2026 | 10:04 PM
The CJP said it would resume its nationwide protest if the assurances remained unfulfilled.
Synopsis: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has urged the Centre to honour its assurance to withdraw FIRs against student protesters, warning that it will resume its nationwide agitation if the promise is not kept. The party said the Supreme Court’s interim order allowing FIRs to continue could be weaponised by BJP-ruled states to target protestors.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday criticised the Supreme Court’s interim directions permitting investigations into FIRs registered against student protesters to continue, contending that the order could be used by the Union government and BJP/NDA-ruled States to avoid withdrawing the cases despite assurances given during talks that led to the suspension of the nationwide agitation.
In a post on X, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the interim order “must ring alarm bells across the country”, particularly Direction No. 4, which allows governments to proceed with existing FIRs and continue investigations.
He said the direction contradicted the assurance given by the Union government on 25 July that FIRs would be withdrawn and that no protester would be targeted for participating in the peaceful movement.
Das reiterated that Tuesday was the deadline for the government to honour those commitments, calling upon the Centre and NDA-ruled State governments to withdraw the FIRs.
Das said the party had called off its nationwide protest “on the strength of that solemn assurance, and in complete good faith”, after the Centre assured that FIRs would be withdrawn and no protester would face direct or indirect targeting.
He warned that the CJP would resume its nationwide protest if the assurances remained unfulfilled.
“Failing this, and as previously declared, the Cockroach Janta Party will have no option but to resume its nationwide protest to protect the students and young protesters who stood up not for themselves alone, but for the future of this nation,” Das said.
“A government that breaks its word cannot expect the youth to remain silent. If the guarantees are dishonoured, the streets of India will once again become the voice of its young.”
🚨URGENT STATEMENT🚨
The interim order passed by the Supreme Court of India in the batch of PILs related to the CJP protest must ring alarm bells across the country. In particular, Direction No. 4, which permits governments to proceed with existing FIRs and carry out…
— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) July 28, 2026
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Das said the CJP now had “a credible apprehension” that the Union government and BJP-ruled States might “seek to use and weaponise this order of the Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to continue FIRs against individual protesters and subject them to great harassment.”
“This was precisely our concern from day one: that courts could be used, directly or indirectly, to achieve political ends by targeting peaceful dissent,” he said.
The CJP spokesperson also criticised the Union government’s conduct before the court, stating that the interim order “was not opposed by the government’s lawyers, despite the Central Government being fully aware that talks/assurances with the CJP had continued until as recently as late last night and that a solemn agreement had already been arrived at on 25 July.”
“The court’s uninformed order is therefore wholly unacceptable. A solemn public assurance given to thousands of young students and protesters cannot be diluted, undermined, or rendered meaningless through subsequent legal developments, in a surreptitious manner. It only results in breach of public trust,” he said.
“In any event, nothing in the interim order prevents the Government of India or the concerned BJP/NDA ruled State Governments from withdrawing the FIRs or deciding not to proceed against peaceful protesters. The power to withdraw or not pursue such cases continues to rest with the executive. The court has not mandated that governments must definitely continue with the FIRs. That would be a deliberate misreading.”
He urged the Union government and the concerned BJP/NDA-ruled State governments to place before the Supreme Court the terms of the assurances given to the CJP.
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The CJP’s response came hours after the Supreme Court issued interim directions in the batch of petitions arising from the student protests.
A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice V Mohana and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed all States to immediately release student protesters who had been arrested or detained.
The court permitted investigations in existing FIRs to continue but ordered that no coercive action be taken against protesters who have no criminal antecedents.
It also directed that no personal data or details of the protesters be published.
The Bench instructed authorities to preserve CCTV, drone and body-camera footage, besides wireless communication logs and Police Control Room records relating to the protests.
Earlier during the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant questioned why there should not be an independent probe into allegations of police excesses during the student protests.
The observation came while the court was hearing a petition seeking interim directions for a Special Investigation Team probe into police action against protesters.
The Supreme Court also observed that police require clear protocols for handling public agitations, stating that the rules already in place had not been followed.
Appearing for the Union government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench, “I am with the students. I don’t think they perpetrated a crime. If they have suffered, the perpetrators must be brought to book.” He requested the court to appoint a committee, if necessary, to oversee the probe and sought a couple of days to place the “facts on record”.
