Assault on Constitution, says CJI BR Gavai's mother in first public response to shoe attack

Speaking to reporters in Amravati on Tuesday, a day after the incident, Kamaltai said such acts amount to spreading anarchy.

Condemning the shoe-hurling attempt, Kamaltai Gavai, the mother of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, called the incident an ‘assault on the Constitution’ and an attempt to create “anarchy in the country”.

Speaking to reporters in Amravati on Tuesday, a day after the incident, Kamaltai said such acts amount to spreading anarchy. "Every citizen has the right to express disagreement, but no one has the right to take the law into their own hands. We must protect the dignity of our democratic institutions,” she said.

“This is not just a personal attack but part of a poisonous ideology that must be checked before it spreads. Such incidents insult our Constitution and disgrace our nation. Anyone acting against the Constitution must face strict punishment,” she was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times.

In a shocking and reprehensible incident, a 71-year-old advocate hurled a shoe at the Chief Justice of India (CJI), B R Gavai, during the proceedings in Court Number 1 on Monday. The accused was allegedly unhappy with recent remarks made by the CJI during a PIL seeking restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in the Khajuraho Temple complex in Madhya Pradesh.

This is the first public response from the CJI’s mother since the attack. A day after the dramatic incident in the apex court, the 71-year-old lawyer said he was “deeply hurt” by CJI BR Gavai’s remarks during a prior hearing concerning a religious matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reacted to the incident and said that the attempted attack on the Chief Justice of India had ‘angered every Indian’.

As per a Delhi Police official, the accused was picked up by the security personnel and handed over to the security unit of the Supreme Court. "He is a resident of the Mayur Vihar area and a registered member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)," the senior police officer said.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has suspended Advocate Rakesh Kishore. In an order issued by BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, the council said Kishore’s conduct “is inconsistent with the dignity of the court” and violates the Advocates Act, 1961 and Rules on Professional Conduct and Etiquette. The suspension takes immediate effect, debarring him from appearing, acting, pleading, or practising in any court or tribunal in India.