New Delhi: A 71-year-old advocate allegedly threw a shoe at Chief Justice of India B R Gavai Monday morning inside the Supreme Court. The Delhi Police reached the Supreme Court, and said further investigations are ongoing.
The Delhi Police stated that the advocate, identified as Rakesh Kishore, took out his sports shoes and threw them at CJI Gavai at around 11:35 am, during the proceedings in Court No 1.
“He was picked up by the security personnel. He was handed over to the security unit of the Supreme Court. He is a resident of the Mayur Vihar area and a registered member of the Supreme Court Bar Association,” a senior police officer said. During the initial investigation, it came to the fore that the advocate 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.
CJI Gavai appeared unruffled, and asked lawyers to continue the proceedings.
While being taken out of the court, the man reportedly said, “Sanatan dharma ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan (India will not tolerate the insult of Sanatan dharma)”.
“Now, the Delhi Police are coordinating with the registrar general of the Supreme Court, and the New Delhi District is probing the matter before taking any legal action,” the officer said. CJI Gavai has Z plus security cover, provided by the Security Division of the Delhi Police.
A lawyer who was present in the court told The Indian Express that a man in a lawyer’s robes flung something at CJI Gavai. The lawyer said security personnel later told him that the person had thrown a shoe at the Chief Justice of India.
The lawyer also said that while being escorted out, the man was heard shouting some slogan. Presiding over a two-judge bench with Justice K Vinod Chandran, CJI Gavai made the comments on September 16 while dismissing the plea seeking the reconstruction of a dilapidated 7 feet tall Lord Vishnu idol at the Javari Temple in Khajuraho Temple complex. “This purely publicity interest litigation… Go and ask the deity himself to do something. If you are saying that you are a strong devotee of Lord Vishnu, then you pray and do some meditation,” CJI Gavai told the petitioner.
CJI Gavai later said he “respects all religions” and clarified that his comments were made in the context that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has jurisdiction over its upkeep. “I believe in all the religions, I respect all the (religions),” CJI Gavai said.
