SC against action in shoe-hurling incident

Noting that CJI BR Gavai himself refused to proceed against advocate Rakesh Kishore who allegedly attempted to hurl a shoe at him during court proceedings on October 6, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to initiate contempt action against the elderly lawyer.

“Throwing of a shoe or shouting slogans are contemptuous acts on the face of the court under Section 14 (of Contempt of Courts Act). In such cases, it is left to the judge concerned to decide whether to initiate contempt. The CJI in his magnanimity chose to ignore. Is it within the domain of another Bench or even the Attorney General to give consent for contempt?” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi wondered.

“Issuing contempt notice will only give undue importance to the lawyer (Kishore)… and would increase the shelf life of the incident,” the Bench told senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh.

“No doubt the incident is a grave criminal contempt… The subsequent conduct aggravates the situation but the CJI himself has pardoned him,” the Bench pointed out.

The Bench, however, said it would examine the matter to issue guidelines to prevent such incidents in future and posted it for hearing after a week.