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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to initiate contempt proceedings against advocate Rakesh Kishore, who hurled a shoe at Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai earlier this month. The court observed that the Chief Justice had shown remarkable composure and magnanimity in choosing not to press charges, adding that the incident did not merit further attention. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi stated that initiating contempt proceedings would only give “undue importance” to an incident that deserved to fade away. “Such kind of persons have no stake in the system. Giving any undue importance to a person who does not deserve it… we will look at it with the same magnanimity that the CJI has shown,” Justice Surya Kant remarked. Incident and immediate response The incident occurred on October 6, when 71-year-old advocate Rakesh Kishore threw a shoe toward the CJI during proceedings in the Supreme Court. Despite the disruption, Chief Justice Gavai reportedly remained calm and directed the security staff to “just ignore” the episode. The Bar Council of India (BCI) subsequently suspended Kishore’s licence to practise law with immediate effect. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) later sought contempt proceedings against him, arguing that his conduct amounted to a grave insult to the judiciary. During the hearing, SCBA president Vikas Singh expressed concern over Kishore’s public remarks to the media following the incident. However, Justice Surya Kant responded that the case was “over” and that the court would not prolong it further. The bench observed that while “shouting slogans in court and hurling shoes” clearly amounted to contempt, whether to pursue such action depended on the discretion of the presiding judge. “Issuing contempt notice will only give undue importance to the lawyer and increase the shelf life of the incident,” the court said. While closing the matter, the court indicated that it was considering framing guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been asked to gather details of similar disruptions reported in other courts. Earlier, on October 16, the Supreme Court had cautioned against abuse of the right to free expression, noting that it could not come at the expense of others’ dignity or institutional integrity. The shoe-throwing episode drew widespread condemnation across the legal fraternity, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly reaching out to the CJI following the incident.
