Not even in his wildest dreams would Chief Justice of India Surya Kant have imagined that his drawing a parallel between unemployed youth and cockroaches would trigger a satirical riposte and then assume the proportions of a deluge in the virtual world. The CJI, with due respect, was allowing himself to be carried away. As the noted lawyer Harish Salve said, judges should measure their words and avoid hyperbole. The Supreme Court’s likening of the CBI to a caged parrot, far from having a chastening effect on the powers that be and the CBI itself, has had the counterproductive effect of lowering the image of the nation’s premier investigative agency in public perception. People hang on to the lips of their lordships, which is why they must be circumspect in their utterances, including when passing off-the-record or off-the-cuff remarks called obiter dicta during hearings.

To be sure, the rapid fame of 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke and his virtual-world Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) would be evanescent, as most social media initiatives are. That it clocked more than 23 million online adherents in a matter of days before it was blocked by X is indeed a record of sorts, but in the virtual world, especially on social media, the bandwagon effect is more pronounced, and commitment to stay on is woefully lacking. Netizens want fun without responsibility and sharing the total cost and are free with their likes, follows and thumbs-ups. The BJP, on........

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