India, Aug. 15 -- Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said his controversial "cockroach" remark made during a Supreme Court hearing was "misquoted" and subsequently misused with "malicious intent" to mislead young people.

Speaking to DD News, CJI Kant expressed concern over the growing circulation of short clips from court proceedings on social media without the surrounding context.

'What happened was truly unfortunate'

The CJI was referring to remarks he made during a hearing on May 15, 2026, when he compared certain individuals holding fraudulent degrees to "cockroaches" who allegedly become social media or RTI activists to target the system.

CJI Kant said the subsequent controversy was unfortunate and clarified that he could not ...