Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said his controversial remarks likening some young people to "cockroaches" were "misquoted" and circulated with "malicious intent" to mislead India's youth.

But the controversy is no longer merely about a clipped courtroom exchange. The remark spawned the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), while subsequent episodes at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and NALSAR University of Law have pointed to a wider unease among young people about the country's top judge.

In an interview with DD News, Justice Kant said clips of court proceedings were increasingly being circulated on social media without context. "My comment was misquoted and misused. What was not said is presented as though it was said. This is extremely unfortunate. Particularly, it is a major malicious attempt to mislead the youth of the country," he said.

The CJI was referring to remarks he made on 15 May while hearing a matter concerning lawyers with allegedly fraudulent or unrecognised degrees. The exchange was not, as the CJI now explains it, directed at young people generally. But the words he used in court were considerably broader.

"There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have no place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone," CJI Surya Kant said. He also referred to such people as "parasites" who "attack the people" and "attack the system".

The distinction matters. The CJI may have intended his remarks to refer to people........

© National Herald