Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Thursday said his brother Justice K Vinod Chandran and he were shocked by the shoe-throwing attempt by 71-year-old lawyer Rajesh Kishore on Monday. However, the CJI also said that this is now a forgotten chapter for the Court.
The remarks came when the CL bench was hearing an unrelated matter in which senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan had appeared.
Following the Chief Justice’s remarks, his brother, Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan, condemned the failed attack. Highlighting the seriousness of the incident, Justice Bhuiyan said it was not a matter of joking but an insult to the institution.
Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, who was present in the court, also agreed with the view and said that the act was inexcusable. Mehta further said that it was due to the generosity of the Chief Justice that the court granted clemency to the said attacker.
The said attack took place on Monday when the 70-year-old man entered Court No. 1 and attempted to throw a shoe towards the bench headed by the CJI.
According to the attacker, the motive behind his attack was that he was dissatisfied with the CJI’s remarks, which were made recently during the hearing of a petition seeking restoration of the decapitated structure of Lord Vishnu in a temple in Khajuraho.
During the hearing of the Lord Vishnu idol case, Chief Justice Gavai had remarked that the petitioner seeking directions to restore the idol should seek remedy by praying to Lord Vishnu, as the court had refused to consider it.
Refusing to hear the case, the top court said it was a dispute over a temple, which is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and suggested that the ASI was a better authority to intervene in this regard.
