Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Bengaluru police have registered an FIR against advocate Rakesh Kishore for attempting to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai inside the Supreme Court earlier this week.

The FIR has been registered as a "Zero FIR" by the Bengaluru City Vidhan Soudha Police Station. Zero FIR is registered for transferring to the jurisdictional police station of the place of offence.

The FIR invokes offences under Sections 132 and 133 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deal with assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, respectively.

The FIR follows a complaint filed by the All India Advocates' Association, Bengaluru, condemning the act as an affront to the dignity of the judiciary and the rule of law.

The incident occurred inside Courtroom No. 1 of the Supreme Court on Monday during the morning session when Kishore attempted to hurl a shoe at CJI BR Gavai while proceedings were underway. Security personnel immediately intervened and restrained him. He shouted, "Sanatan ka apman nahi sahega Hindustan" (Hindustan will not tolerate insults to Sanatan Dharma) while being escorted out.

The Bar Council of India later suspended him, terming his conduct unbecoming. He was later let off by the Delhi Police as the Supreme Court Registrar General declined to pursue further legal action.

A petition has been filed before the Attorney General seeking his consent to initiate criminal contempt action against Kishore.

The bid to attack the CJI drew widespread condemnation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Ministers MK Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan, Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy, Mamata Banerjee and many other political leaders condemned the act and expressed solidarity with the CJI. The Supreme Court Bar Association, the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, and major bar associations of many High Courts condemned the act.