SC no to action against lawyer who hurled shoe at CJI

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.

But Singh insisted on a contempt notice to be issued to Kishore. That was in his (CJI’s) individual capacity but this is for the institution. We can't let this incident go, people are making jokes, which can't be allowed. This will bring a lot of disrespect to the institution," Singh told the Bench.

"Because the CJI let him go, he was emboldened. If he was taken to jail that very day, this glorification might not have happened,” Singh said, adding he should express remorse or he should be sent to jail.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta supported the top court’s approach in dealing with Kishore. “His shelf life in social media is for a few more days. With issuance of notice, it might be extended. He might start playing the victim,” Mehta said.

Attorney General R Venkataramani had on October 16 granted his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against Kishore who allegedly attempted to hurl a shoe at CJI BR Gavai on October 6 over alleged insult to Sanatan Dharma.

The SCBA has terminated with immediate effect membership of Kishore for “grave misconduct”. The Bar Council of India – which regulates the legal profession in the country – has also suspended Kumar's bar licence with immediate effect.

In a shocking incident, advocate Rakesh Kishore (71) on October 6 attempted to hurl a shoe at CJI Gavai during proceedings in the Supreme Court over alleged insult of Sanatan.

CJI Gavai had said he was “shocked”, but now the issue was a "forgotten chapter." "My learned brother (Justice K Vinod Chandran) and I were very shocked with what happened… For us, it’s a forgotten chapter," the CJI said on October 9 about the unprecedented incident that invited all-around condemnation.