New Delhi/Bangalore: The dramatic scenes that unfolded contained in the Supreme Court docket earlier this week have sparked an uproar, with the Opposition condemning the “BJP-RSS ideology” and calling it an assault on the Structure and the very foundations of democracy.
On Monday, 71-year-old advocate Rakesh Kishore threw a shoe at Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gabai inside Courtroom 1 of the CJI courtroom. After being briefly detained, Kishore was launched the identical day after the CJI directed the Supreme Court docket registrar to not prosecute the case.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) suspended Kishore from training legislation and issued a show-cause discover, however the case is now taking the type of a ballot situation in Bihar, greater than a thousand kilometers away. Parliamentary elections within the state might be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with votes counted on November 14.
On Tuesday, Bihar Meeting Speaker Rajesh Kumar broke down in tears whereas speaking concerning the incident. “This ache is felt by each Dalit concerned within the assault on BR Gavai. This assault on the Supreme Court docket is an insult to hundreds of thousands of Dalits. Gabai is busy strengthening the judicial system and individuals are not coming for him…Dalits have been subjected to this humiliation for hundreds of years,” he stated at a press convention in Patna.
Bihar Youth Congress additionally staged a protest in opposition to the incident. “An assault on the judiciary is an assault on democracy and this nation won’t ever settle for the anti-constitutional views of the RSS,” he stated in a submit on X. Congress-allied Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Tejashwi Yadav stated the incident was a “dangerous consequence” of the continued undertaking to normalize hatred and violence within the nation.
Based on Bihar Caste Survey 2023 (Bihar Jaati Adalit Ganana), scheduled castes (SCs) represent about 19.65 per cent of Bihar’s inhabitants.
Reacting to criticism of the BJP and its ideological chief, the RSS, Bihar state BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma stated, “They (Congress) are involved about their very own politics, not about tribes or anybody else.” He additional added that Congress leaders are fully silent “when tribal leaders like Khagen Murmu (Bharatiya Janata Get together MP from Mardaha Uttar in West Bengal) are attacked”.
Murmu was attacked by a mob earlier this week whereas visiting flood- and landslide-hit areas in north Bengal and is presently present process remedy at a hospital in Siliguri.
Additionally learn: ‘Daughter of Mithila’ to contest Bihar polls on Bharatiya Janata Get together ticket? Maithili Thakur focuses on political developments
Congress condemns ‘RSS pondering’, BJP speaks out “It is politically motivated.”‘
Advocate Rakesh Kishore’s actions drew condemnation throughout political traces, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the incident had “offended each Indian” and opposition chief Rahul Gandhi calling it “an assault on the dignity of our judiciary”.
After the incident, Kishore informed ThePrint in an interview that he had no regrets and was livid over the CJI’s verbal remarks throughout an earlier public listening to on the reconstruction of the seven-feet-tall Vishnu idol on the Jawali temple in Khajuraho. Suggesting that the Supreme Court docket can not intervene within the matter as temples are protected locations, the CJI reportedly informed the appellant to “go and ask God Himself to do one thing for you.”
He later clarified that his remarks had been taken out of context. “We respect all religions.” Kishore reportedly shouted as he was being escorted out of Courtroom No. 1 after throwing a present on the CJI.Hindustan is not going to tolerate Sanatan’s insults”
(Hindustan is not going to tolerate insulting Sanatan Dharma)
His response to the incident involving CJI Gabai, who left Bihar and New Delhi, has landed former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao in a quandary. Within the face of backlash, Rao on Wednesday publicly apologized for initially supporting Rakesh Kishore’s stand.
The previous IPS officer and present Bharatiya Janata Get together panelist wrote of X: “My response was one in every of amazement and shock for somebody who was so extremely educated, but so aged, and who had gone by such a gross and legally unsuitable act realizing full properly the results. I’ve by no means disrespected the Supreme Court docket, the Chief Justice, or some other neighborhood. ”
My response was one in every of amazement and shock that somebody so extremely educated, but so outdated, may undergo such a horribly legally unsuitable act realizing full properly the results of such an act. , I’m not disrespecting the Supreme Court docket, the Chief Justice, or some other neighborhood. If my…
— Bhaskar Rao (@Nimmabhaskar22) October 8, 2025
In an earlier submit, Rao had praised the advocate’s “braveness”.
“I like your braveness to take a stand and dwell as much as it at this age, whatever the penalties, even whether it is legally unsuitable,” he wrote on X, responding to a submit by a person named “Rakesh Kishore.” It was later found that the deal with was not linked to the defender.
I like your braveness to face up and dwell by it at this age whatever the penalties, even whether it is legally unsuitable 🙏
— Bhaskar Rao (@Nimmabhaskar22) October 7, 2025
Rao, a 1990-batch IPS officer within the Karnataka cadre, had sought voluntary retirement in September 2021. His want was granted in December 2022. In April of the identical yr, he joined the Aam Aadmi Get together (AAP), however the affiliation didn’t final lengthy. Mr. Rao parted methods with the AAP and joined the BJP in March 2023, forward of the Karnataka Meeting elections, however he ran unsuccessfully from the Chamrajpet seat in Bengaluru on a BJP ticket.
In the meantime, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge linked Rakesh Kishore’s actions to the “RSS mindset”.
“We’ll by no means progress as a rustic except we get rid of the RSS mentality that’s quickly infiltrating our society,” Kharge wrote in X.
“I’ve no regrets.”
– Rakesh KishoreWe can not progress as a nation except we get rid of the RSS mentality that’s quickly infiltrating our society. pic.twitter.com/CmYmCSewlm
– Priyank Kharge / Priyank Kharge (@priyankkharge) October 8, 2025
In Maharashtra too, opposition events cited incidents involving CJI Gavai to oppose the ruling BJP-led alliance. Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, the sitting president of the NCP (SP), which is a part of the Indian bloc, led the march in her constituency Baramati. Members of events from numerous Indian blocs, together with the NCP (SP), Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), additionally gathered at Kolhapur’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Chowk on Wednesday to protest in opposition to the incident.
In the meantime, Congress’s Udit Raj recommended that CJI Gabbai’s mom’s refusal to ask him to the RSS centenary program may have been one of many causes for the incident, with out offering any proof to help his principle.
“The OBC reservation was enforced within the Supreme Court docket. The identical factor occurred throughout the Mandal period. His father labored with Dalits and OBCs in opposition to the Mandal Fee. Gavai’s mom rejected the RSS’s invitation and that may be the rationale,” he stated.
Reacting to the incident, Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari stated that some members of the Bharatiya Janata Get together and its associates had been spreading hatred within the title of faith and caste. “Their major targets are individuals from SC and ST communities who’re the weaker sections of society. My considerations have turned out to be right concerning what occurred within the Supreme Court docket on this BJP rule.”
The Youth Congress additionally staged protests in some elements of the nation, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying, “If such ideology exists amongst Supreme Court docket legal professionals, it’s an affront to the Structure.” Additional, “Those that communicate of depriving individuals of their basic rights within the title of Manusmriti must be punished.”
“Linking random incidents to the BJP or the RSS is politically motivated,” BJP nationwide spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan informed ThePrint on Wednesday.
“So far as we’re involved, the honorable Prime Minister well timed condemned the incident by a tweet and appreciated the composure of Honorable CJI Choose BR Gabai. Congress has no ethical authority or standing to touch upon social justice. It was beneath Prime Minister Modi that we witnessed the primary tribal president in India’s historical past, and the OBC Vice-President and the Prime Minister himself are from humble OBC backgrounds. Now we have a Dalit Chief Justice,” he stated.
He added, “After Mr. Ambedkar, we have now a Union Regulation Minister from the Dalit neighborhood…The (Bihar Congress president’s) assertion displays the hypocrisy of the Congress social gathering.”
(Edited by Amrutanshu Arora)
Additionally learn: VHP Chief Says CJI Gavai’s ‘Ask God’ Remarks in Khajuraho Incident ‘Mocked Hindu Religion’
