'If attacker was Asad...': Owaisi hits out at PM Modi over CJI 'shoe attack' bid

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday tore into BJP and Delhi Police over the lack of action against lawyer Rakesh Kishore who attempted to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.

“If his name was not Rakesh Kishore, and if it was Asad, what would the police do? BJP people would say, ‘Pick him up!’, 'he came from a neighboring country', ‘(Pakistan's spy agency) ISI!’ — they'd open all fronts against that person,” Owaisi said in a speech which he also shared on X.

भारत के दूसरे दलित Chief Justice of India पर जूता फेंकने वाले के खिलाफ मुकदमा दर्ज क्यों नहीं किया गया?pic.twitter.com/WUd9pHhmwO

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 7, 2025

In his address, Owaisi accused the government of religious bias and questioned why no case was filed against the accused.

Further highlighting the incident as an insult to Dalits, Owaisi said, “The Chief Justice of India is a Dalit by caste and I want to ask my Dalit brothers – a man throws a shoe at the Chief Justice in his court… what is going? The criminal said ‘India won’t tolerate the insult of ‘Sanatan Dharma’… but how did he the courage to throw a shoe at the Chief Justice?”

Owaisi reminded the gathering that Rakesh Kishore raised the slogan “Sanatan ka apmaan, nahin sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate insult to Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism).

The Hyderabad MP further referred to recent court verdicts involving mosques and Muslims, and said “… but we did not pick up the shoe”.

He contrasted the “shamelessness” of Rakesh Kishore with how the police took action against Muslims protesting the removal of an ‘I Love Muhammad’ banner in UP's Bareilly recently.

Further targetting PM Modi, Owaisi said, “Tell me, Modi ji, aren't your government and your policy responsible? These are people whom your government has empowered.” He said the Modi government and BJP had “injected poison into such people's hearts”.

Owaisi stressed that even when the CJI had chosen to not file a case, PM Modi should have initiated legal action and not stopped at a condemnation of the incident.

Lawyer attacks CJI Gavai

A lawyer, Rakesh Kishore, attempted to hurl a shoe towards CJI Gavai in his courtroom in the Supreme Court on Monday. Alert security personnel present inside the courtroom immediately intervened and prevented the attack.

The lawyer was swiftly escorted out of the court premises, and in the process, he shouted “‘Sanatan ka apman nahi sahega Hindustan’ (India will not tolerate the disrespect of the Sanatana Dharma)”.

The incident was linked to the accused lawyer’s unhappiness over the CJI’s remarks during a hearing in September, 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.”

Kishore told media channels that he was hurt by the remark made by CJI while hearing the case about an idol of Hindu god Lord Vishnu. The CJI had already clarified he meant no disrespect in his oral observation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack bid on the CJI and said “every Indian is angered” over it.