NEW DELHI, Oct 7: Cutting across party lines, leaders on Tuesday strongly condemned the bid to attack Chief Justice of India B R Gavai during court proceedings, calling it an “assault” on democracy and the Constitution.
In a shocking breach of decorum on Monday, Rakesh Kishore, a 71-year-old lawyer, allegedly tried to hurl a shoe at the CJI during court proceedings, but was stopped by alert security personnel.
Police sources said a note, containing the slogan “Sanatan dharma ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan Dharma), was found in the lawyer’s possession. The Bar Council of India (BCI) has suspended his licence with immediate effect.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Justice Gavai on Monday and said the attack on him has angered every Indian. “There is no place for such reprehensible acts in our society. It is utterly condemnable,” Modi said, appreciating the calm displayed by the CJI.Protests were held in CJI Gavai’s home state of Maharashtra on Tuesday.
In neighbouring Bihar, which goes to polls next month, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the ruling BJP at the Centre of “maintaining silence” over the incident.
Yadav alleged that “the incident is a result of normalisation of hate and violence, which seems to have been receiving state patronage since 2014”. In Tamil Nadu, AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami condemned the attack and said such violence was unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms.
In the north, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) protested in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar. Carrying portraits of Ambedkar, party workers led by AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj and MLA Kuldeep Kumar raised slogans of “Jai Bhim”.
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.
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.” Taking note of the online criticism of his comments, the CJI later said he respects “all religions”. (PTI)
