'Very shocked ': CJI BR Gavai breaks silence on shoe attack; calls it a 'forgotten chapter'

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India Justice BR Gavai on Thursday said that he was "shocked" after an hurled a shoe at him in Supreme Court.

In his first reaction, the Chief Justice described the incident as a "forgotten chapter" and said, "My learned brother and I were very shocked with what happened on Monday; for us it is a ."

According to a report by Live Law, the remarks came during a discussion that also involved advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who recalled a similar incident from a decade ago. “I also wrote an article on this.. something similar happened 10 years ago in the neighbouring court. The two judges there had taken a different view on what procedure should be followed while invoking contempt powers,” he said.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who was also part of the bench, expressed his strong disapproval of the attack, saying, “I have my own views on this. He is the Chief Justice of India, it's not a matter of joke! I am not apologetic thereafter; it's an affront to the institution.”

Justice Bhuyan was referring to the CJI's decision to refrain from pursuing further legal action against the offender, a 71-year-old lawyer named Rakesh Kishore.

On Monday, a 71-year-old advocate Rakesh Kishore allegedly attempted to hurl a shoe towards CJI Gavai during a hearing in Supreme Court. According to police sources, the errant lawyer was unhappy over the CJI's remarks during a hearing last month concerning the restoration of a Vishnu idol in Khajuraho.

In September, a bench headed by the CJI had dismissed the plea seeking directions to reconstruct and reinstall a seven-foot idol of Lord Vishnu at the Javari temple, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Khajuraho temple complex in Madhya Pradesh.

Terming the plea a "publicity interest litigation", the CJI had said, "This is 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."



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