Shoe thrown at CJI: Lawyer unapologetic; police question YouTuber

Police sources said the questioning was related to an online discussion posted on September 29 involving Bharti, and two others, Kaushlesh Rai and Anupam Singh, in which they are heard discussing a response to CJI Gavai for his remarks in court, including violence. When contacted, Rai said: “We stand by our opinion.” Singh said the podcast was recorded two weeks ago.

Rakesh Kishore, the lawyer who hurled the shoe at the CJI, had also allegedly claimed during questioning that he was “unhappy with the CJI’s remarks” on the idol restoration. On Tuesday, on a phone call with reporters who were outside his house in Mayur Vihar, Kishore claimed he was “instructed by divine powers to act”.

Kishore, who studied in BHU, enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi in 2009 at the age of 55. He has two daughters. Speaking to ANI, he said he “was not intoxicated” at the time of the incident in court and expressed “no regret”. “My name is Dr Rakesh Kishore. Can someone tell my caste? Maybe, I am a Dalit too…,” he told the news agency.

Later on Tuesday, YouTuber Bharti posted on X that he was “safe and sound” after his detention. “The entire system is with me — it is our system, the system of our ideas. Disagreements will happen, but we are, have been, and will remain one. I am grateful to all of you. Jai Shri Ram!” Bharti posted, adding that “sarkar bhi hamari, system bhi hamara (The government is ours, the system is ours too)”.

Monday’s incident had led to Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading a chorus of condemnation that cut across party lines — from BJP to Cong, Left to AAP — all uniting to slam the “attack on democracy”.

In Patna Tuesday, Bihar Congress president and Dalit leader Rajesh Kumar Ram became emotional even as he described the attack on the CJI as one that is not just against an individual but the foundations of India’s democracy, the Constitution, and the principles of social justice.

“There is no experience worse than this for a Dalit. We always face discrimination and bias, even inside the House, and we are still enduring it today… This pain belongs to all those Dalits who are identifying themselves with Justice Gavai’s attack,” he said, holding back tears.

Ram also accused the BJP and RSS of “attempting to undermine institutions that uphold justice and equality”.

In Delhi, AAP workers led by the party’s state chief Saurabh Bharadwaj staged a protest outside Kishore’s residential society. Carrying a portrait of Dr B R Ambedkar, AAP workers raised slogans, chanting “Chief Justice ka apman nahi sahega Hindustan (India will not tolerate an insult to the Chief Justice”).

(With Himanshu Harsh/Patna)

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