Attack on CJI BR Gavai ‘direct threat to constitutional morality’, say rights groups

Civil rights organisations on Thursday condemned the recent attempted attack on Chief Justice BR Gavai, describing the incident as “a direct threat to constitutional morality and social harmony”, The Hindu reported.

Three organisations – Civil Rights Initiative Internationale, Samooha Secular Writers Forum and the National Justice Political Front-India – in a press conference at the Press Club in Hyderabad said that lawyer Rakesh Kishore attempting to allegedly throw a shoe at Gavai was an incident of “national shame”.

The organisations alleged that the incident highlighted the rise of religious extremism in the country.

The Samooha Secular Writers Forum deemed the attack to be a sign of “manuvadi extremism”.

The Manusmriti is a Hindu legal text authored by a medieval ascetic named Manu. It has been widely criticised for its gender and caste-based provisions.

Indian Police Services officer Babu Rao, who is the national president of Civil Rights Initiative Internationale, said: “If the chief justice of India is targeted because of his caste, then the safety of every marginalised citizen is at stake.”

Rao further demanded that charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act must be added to the case pertaining to the attack, underlining that Gavai was only the third Dalit person to become the chief justice.

A zero first information report registered by the Bengaluru Police against Kishore invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against using assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from duty and for using force to dishonour a person.

“India must not be built on the foundation of fanaticism,” Rao said. “We must reclaim Ambedkar’s vision of democracy, fraternity, and justice. Casteism and communalism have no place in modern India.”

Attack a ‘forgotten chapter’: Gavai

Meanwhile, Gavai on Thursday said that the attempted attack on him was a “forgotten chapter”, Live Law reported.

“My learned brother and I were very shocked with what happened on Monday… for us it is a forgotten chapter,” he said.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who was part of the bench with Gavai on Thursday, added that the incident was “not a matter of joke” and described it as an “affront to the institution”.

Attack on CJI

On Monday, Kishore allegedly tried to throw a shoe at Gavai while shouting a slogan accusing him of having insulted Hinduism.

Kishore told The Print that his actions were driven by the chief justice dismissing a plea seeking the restoration of a beheaded idol of Hindu deity Vishnu at Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho, when Gavai told the petitioner to “go and ask the deity himself to do something”.

“He not only refused to accept the prayer, but made fun of the Lord Vishnu,” Kishore said.

A day later, Kishore told ANI that the chief justice should “uphold” the dignity of a high constitutional post.

In particular, he said he was hurt by a recent comment by Gavai in Mauritius, where he said that the Supreme Court’s November 2024 ruling “sent a clear message that the Indian legal system is governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of the bulldozer”.

“I ask the CJI and those opposing me: Is the bulldozer action by Yogi ji against those who encroached on government property wrong?” Kishore asked.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.

Also read: Anand Teltumbde: Attack on Dalit CJI Gavai recasts criminal aggression as nationalist virtue