New Delhi, Oct 6 : In a shocking security breach, a 71-year-old lawyer allegedly attempted to hurl a shoe towards Chief Justice of India B R Gavai in his courtroom in the Supreme Court on Monday, prompting the Bar Council of India to suspend his license with immediate effect.
The CJI, who remained unfazed during and after the unprecedented incident during the court proceedings, asked the court officials and the security personnel present inside the courtroom to “just ignore” it and to let off the errant lawyer identified as Rakesh Kishore with a warning.
“Don’t get distracted by all this. We are not distracted. These things do not affect me,” the CJI, who was sitting on the bench with Justice K Vinod Chandran, told lawyers and continued hearing the mentioning of cases.
Bar bodies, SCBA and SCAORA, and lawyers including Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and political parties strongly condemned the incident as “an attack on the Constitution and the institution as a whole”. Police said Kishore was aged 71.
Kishore, a resident of Mayur Vihar here, was questioned for three hours by Delhi police officials inside the apex court premises and was later allowed to go at 2 PM as no formal complaint was lodged. Police also returned his shoes to him.
Police sources said a note, containing the slogan ‘Sanatan dharma ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan’ (India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan Dharma), was recovered by the police from his possession.
“We also found that he was carrying a card of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and the Shahdara Bar Association. While questioning Kishore, the team asked him about his motive for his act. The advocate has claimed that he was unhappy with the CJI’s remarks during a recent hearing of a plea seeking the restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in the Khajuraho Temple complex in Madhya Pradesh,” the sources said.
According to lawyers, the incident occurred when the CJI-led bench was hearing the mentioning of cases by lawyers.
Kishore approached the dais on a raised platform, removed his shoe and tried to throw it towards the judges.
Alert security personnel present inside the courtroom immediately intervened and foiled an apparent attack.
The lawyer was swiftly escorted out of the court premises. As he was being taken away, the lawyer was heard shouting, “Sanatan ka apman nahi sahenge” (will not tolerate insults to Sanatan Dharma).
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, said it is not just an attack on the CJI but on our Constitution and no words are enough to condemn such an act.
“No words are adequate to condemn the attack on the Chief Justice of India in the Supreme Court itself. It is an assault not just on him but on our Constitution as well. Chief Justice Gavai has been very gracious but the nation must stand in solidarity with him unitedly with a deep sense of anguish and outrage,” she said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta described the act as “unfortunate and condemnable”, calling it a result of misinformation and an attempt at cheap publicity.
The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) described the incident as a “disrespectful and intemperate gesture” by an advocate.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) swung into action and swiftly ordered immediate suspension of Rakesh Kishore.
Issuing the interim suspension order, BCI chairperson and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra said the advocate’s act was “prima facie inconsistent with the dignity of the court” and in clear violation of the professional conduct rules prescribed under the Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India Rules.
