Chief Justice B.R. Gavai Reflects on Shoe-Throwing Incident as a Forgotten Chapter

Reflections on the Shoe-Throwing Incident

On Thursday, Chief Justice B.R. Gavai expressed his astonishment alongside Justice K. Vinod Chandran regarding an incident that occurred on October 6, when a lawyer attempted to throw a shoe at them. He remarked that this event has now become a 'forgotten chapter.'

The incident took place during a hearing led by the Chief Justice, where various cases were being discussed by lawyers. The accused, a 71-year-old lawyer named Rakesh Kishore, took off his shoe and aimed it at the judges, an act that received widespread condemnation.

While addressing petitions related to the review and amendment of the Vanashakti case, the Chief Justice commented, 'What happened on Monday left both me and my esteemed colleague (Justice Chandran) quite shocked; for us, it is a forgotten chapter.'

Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan, who was part of the bench, expressed disagreement with the actions taken against the offending lawyer, stating, 'I have my own views on this; he is the Chief Justice, and this is no laughing matter! Justice Bhuiyan described the incident as an 'insult to the Supreme Court' and emphasized that appropriate measures should be taken in this regard. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta deemed the act inexcusable.

The top legal officer praised the Chief Justice's grace and 'grandeur.' Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, present in court, urged senior lawyer Gopal Shankaranarayanan to proceed with the hearing and to refrain from further discussion on this shocking incident. The Chief Justice reiterated, 'For us, it is a forgotten chapter,' after which the bench resumed its proceedings.