Courtrooms are meant for arguments, not violent attacks. Yet on Monday, the Supreme Court witnessed a startling breach when Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai was targeted by a lawyer who hurled a shoe at the bench during a hearing. The Chief Justice stayed composed as security swiftly removed the offender, an incident that has ignited nationwide outrage and revived memories of one of the judiciary’s most extraordinary dramas more than fifty years ago.
The disruption occurred during proceedings when advocate Rakesh Kishore, reportedly angered by Justice Gavai’s recent remarks in a case involving a Vishnu idol in Madhya Pradesh, flung his shoe toward the dais. Eyewitnesses said the object narrowly missed the judges before landing behind them. As he was removed from the courtroom, Kishore shouted, “India won’t tolerate insult to Sanatan Dharma.”
Unfazed, Justice B.R. Gavai urged lawyers to stay focused and continue with the case. He made no public statement about the episode. Kishore was later suspended from legal practice, though officials said no criminal charges would be pressed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the act “utterly condemnable” and said it had angered the nation. He also spoke to Chief Justice Gavai, praising his calm response as a reflection of “strong faith in justice and constitutional values.”
The incident has revived memories of March 1968, when then Chief Justice M. Hidayatullah confronted a knife-wielding assailant inside the same courtroom. The attacker injured Justice A.N. Grover before Hidayatullah overpowered him and pinned the knife into a carpet. In his memoir My Own Boswell, the former CJI recalled instructing police not to harm the man, later found to be mentally unwell.
Though decades apart, both incidents serve as stark reminders of how unpredictable courtroom spaces can be and how India’s top judges have time and again met moments of chaos with rare composure and quiet courage.
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