A lawyer hurled a shoe at the Chief Justice of India during a Supreme Court hearing on Monday, in an unprecedented breach of courtroom security that provoked nationwide outrage.
Rakesh Kishore, 71, reportedly shouted slogans about “Sanatan Dharma”, a term often used to describe Hinduism, while throwing the shoe at Justice BR Gavai. The object fell near the bench, narrowly missing the chief justice and another judge.
The Independent has contacted the chief justice’s office for comment.
Justice Gavai said he was unharmed. “I only heard the sound. Maybe it fell on some table or somewhere,” he told The Indian Express, adding that he heard the attacker proclaim he was aiming at the chief justice. “Perhaps what he threw landed somewhere else and he was trying to explain.”
He urged the lawyers present in the courtroom to “ignore it” and continue with the proceedings, the judge said, adding that he was “not distracted by all this”.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC the shoe brushed past the judges before landing behind them.
“After he was apprehended by the courtroom security, the Chief Justice told the lawyers to continue their arguments and not get distracted,” said advocate Ravi Shanker Jha, who was present.
Mr Kishore was immediately restrained by security staff. He was questioned by the Delhi police but released after three hours, following directions from the Supreme court’s registrar general that the chief justice didn’t want charges filed against the lawyer.
The registrar also directed the police to return Mr Kishore’s shoes and documents.
The police claimed that they found a handwritten note on Mr Kishore. “My message is for every follower of Sanatan Dharma,” it said in Hindi, “India will not tolerate an insult to Hinduism.”
He was also carrying multiple identification cards from the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Delhi Bar Council.
Speaking later to The Print, Mr Kishore said he did not regret his actions. “I did not do it; God did,” he said. “The Chief Justice of India mocked Sanatan Dharma. This was the Almighty’s order, a reaction to an action.”
The lawyer claimed he had been disturbed since 16 September when Justice Gavai dismissed a plea concerning the replacement of a damaged statue of the Hindu god Vishnu and remarked that the petitioner should “go and ask the deity himself to do something”.
The remarks were widely circulated on social media and the judge was accused of being disrespectful to the Hindu faith. Justice Gavai later clarified his remarks had been misconstrued and that he “respects all religions”.
In the wake of the incident, the Supreme Court Bar Association suspended Mr Kishore, a registered member, from practice.
His behaviour was “utterly unbecoming of an officer of the court” and it “strikes at the very foundation of mutual respect that underpins the relationship between the Bench and the Bar,” the association said in a statement.
“It constitutes a direct assault on judicial independence, violates Constitutional values of decorum and discipline, and gravely undermines public confidence in the justice delivery system.”
Spoke to Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai Ji. The attack on him earlier today in the Supreme Court premises has angered every Indian. There is no place for such reprehensible acts in our society. It is utterly condemnable.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 6, 2025
I appreciated the calm displayed by Justice…
It also commended the “calm composure and exemplary restraint demonstrated” by the chief justice, “who, in the face of this grave provocation, continued to discharge his judicial duties with dignity and poise, upholding the highest traditions of the judiciary”.
The prime minister described the attack as “utterly condemnable” and said he had spoken to Justice Gavai.
“There is no place for such reprehensible acts in our society,” Narendra Modi said, adding that the assault had “angered every Indian”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta attributed the act to “misinformation on social media”.
“It is really heartening that the Chief Justice reacted with magnanimity and majesty. I only hope that this magnanimity is not treated as weakness,” he said.
Opposition leaders also denounced the attack.
Sonia Gandhi of the Congress party said it was “an assault not just on him, but on our constitution as well”, while the Communist Party of India Marxist and the Communist Party of India described it as “a direct assault on the dignity of the judiciary”.
Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja called the incident an attempt to “impose the right-wing’s code of conduct instead of the Constitution of India”, noting that “even the CJI, a Dalit judge, is openly targeted”.
Justice Gavai is due to retire next month and remains under a high-security cover of the Delhi police.
This requires a detailed investigation. The lawyer must be named and legal action taken against him . This appears to be a blatant casteist attack on the Supreme Court of India. It deserves to be condemned by all judges of the Supreme Court by a united press statement that… https://t.co/8sOY5Wip4e
— Indira Jaising (@IJaising) October 6, 2025
Seeking a “detailed investigation”, senior advocate Indira Jaising labelled the incident a “blatant casteist attack on the Supreme Court of India”.
“It deserves to be condemned by all judges of the Supreme Court by a united press statement that ideological attacks will not be tolerated by the court,” she said on X while praising the judge for going about his “judicial work with no visible disturbance”.
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