IT Ministry asks CJP’s Dipke to be present for hearing on X account ban

Cockroach Janta Party Founder Abhijit Dipke during third day of protest against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. File | The summoning comes even as Mr. Dipke has refused to leave Jantar Mantar, where he has been leading a protest calling for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation since Saturday (June 20, 2026) .Mr. Dipke has been called to be present at Electronics Niketan, the MeitY headquarters, on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) afternoon. The CJP source termed this a “fresh escalation,” referring to the Delhi Police’s actions in clearing out the designated protest site near Jantar Mantar. Mr. Dipke has complained of long interruptions to water and food access to the site, as well as disruptions to running water at the washrooms in the area.The hearing is set to take place before an Inter-Ministerial Committee, and is pursuant to an administrative appeal Mr. Dipke filed against the blocking. The hearing comes a month after the initial blocking of the X handle, on May 21. It is unclear why the government blocked the handle — Mr. Dipke had quickly set up a second handle, whose follower count has exceeded that of the initial one; this handle has not been restricted. The government also left the group’s Instagram handle, which has over 2 crore followers, untouched. The withholding has been done under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Many independent journalists, media organisations and individual commentators have been hit with Section 69A takedowns over the last few weeks. Some, like 4PM News, have been restricted online more than once. High courts have occasionally reversed account-level takedowns while allowing appeals procedures to continue for individual posts or videos.While Mr. Dipke is leading the protest with diminished crowds following the police’s steps to evacuate the area, he called on more groups to join the demonstrations. On Monday (June 22, 2026), he called for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and State Service Commission (SSC)-administered exam aspirants to arrive and air their grievances. Published - June 23, 2026 03:23 pm IST