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Journalism of Courage
The Congress in Maharashtra on Friday called upon the Centre to slap the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Rakesh Kishore, the lawyer who lobbed a shoe at Chief Justice B R Gavai during courtroom proceedings in the Supreme Court on October 6.
The 71-year-old Rakesh Kishore later told media persons that he was unhappy over the CJI’s remarks during a hearing last month with regard to the restoration of a Vishnu idol in Khajurao.
”In this matter, though the CJI has not pressed charges against his alleged attacker, the Central Government should register a case against the religious fanatic Rakesh Kishor and show its respect for the judicial system and the highest Constitutional post occupied by the CJI,” said Congress spokesperson Gopal Tiwari in a statement on Friday.
Tiwari said a person blinded by religious fanaticism, while chanting ‘Sanatan Dharma’, has launched a condemnable attack by trying to throw a shoe at the Chief Justice of the country. ”Did he forget that it was the Supreme Court that had settled the Ayodhya Ram Temple issue, a controversy that has been raging on for 450 years? Wasn’t it the Supreme Court and its judges, including the Chief Justice of India, who settled such a long controversy by allowing the construction of the Ram temple?” Tiwari asked.
Tiwari expressed regret over the fact that those tom-tomming about Sanatan Dharma are refusing to understand the facts and are trying to look the other way.
The Congress said the attempt to hurl shoes at the Chief Justice is an attack on the ‘Constitutional justice system’ and hence the Prime Minister should not limit expressing his dissent through tweets and phone calls, but ask his government to register a case of ‘SC/ST Atrocities Act’ against Rakesh Kishore. The accused lawyer is a product of religious fanaticism, which is growing by the day in the country, especially after the BJP came to power.
Following the incident, Kishore, who seemed remorseless over his actions, was suspended by the Bar Council of India (BCI) from practising law. Later, the Supreme Court Bar Association terminated the temporary membership of the lawyer.
Earlier, the Punjab Government had registered several cases under relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sahnita, following hate posts on social media against Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai,
