Madras High Court seeks reply from Saurav Das in plea seeking passport cancellation

Chennai: The Madras High Court has issued a notice to Cockroach Janta Party co-convenor Saurav Das in a public interest litigation seeking an inquiry into his identity and background, as well as the cancellation of his passport and Aadhaar card.

A division bench led by Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan issued the notice on Friday while hearing a petition filed by Chennai resident R Ganesh Kumar. The court has directed Das to respond, and the case will be taken up again after six weeks.

The petition identifies Das as “Yogesh Sharma alias Saurav Das” and alleges that he made derogatory remarks against the judiciary, the Chief Justice of India and other Supreme Court judges. It seeks a detailed investigation by the Centre, the Union Home Ministry and other concerned authorities into his personal details, including information about his parents and residential background.

The petitioner also sought directions to cancel Das’s passport and Aadhaar card if the probe finds him guilty. In addition, the plea asked the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block Instagram and X accounts operating under the name Saurav Das, and to restrain him from making further alleged statements against the judiciary.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel placed on record documents relating to Das’s identity and addresses. The bench examined the material and sought clarification on certain details mentioned in the petition.

Reacting to the court notice, CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka described the development as “a moment of collective shame.” In a post on X, he questioned the extent to which individuals could be targeted for their work, writing: “Hounding someone just because you can’t stand their work – to what extent are we going to tolerate all of this?”