A day after he tried to hit Chief Justice BR Gavai with a shoe but was let off as the judge didn't press charges, lawyer Rakesh Kishore, 71, rejected the idea of remorse and listed a number of issues he felt he needed to address by attacking the CJI.
The Supreme Court's ruling against the idea of “bulldozer justice” was among his major grouses, as he also sought to question the CJI's Dalit identity.
'Is Yogi ji's bulldozer action wrong?'
"CJI is sitting on a Constitution post and is called ‘My Lord’, so he should understand the meaning of it and maintain the dignity. I ask the CJI and people opposing me if Yogi Ji's bulldozer action against people occupying the government's land in Bareilly was wrong?" Kishore, a resident of Delhi's Mayur Vihar, told news agency ANI.
He was referring to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's government recently demolishing allegedly illegal properties belonging to those accused of rioting in Bareilly, where Muslims protested after a banner saying ‘I Love Muhammad’ was removed by the authorities.
“You go to Mauritius and say that the country will not run with a bulldozer,” he noted with criticism, alluding to a recent lecture by CJI Gavai in which he'd said the executive or government could not play the roles of “judge, jury and executioner" at the same time.
{{/usCountry}}“You go to Mauritius and say that the country will not run with a bulldozer,” he noted with criticism, alluding to a recent lecture by CJI Gavai in which he'd said the executive or government could not play the roles of “judge, jury and executioner" at the same time.
{{/usCountry}}The CJI had praised an earlier SC judgment for sending out "a clear message that the Indian legal system is governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of the bulldozer”.
‘No Sanatani should remain silent’
Kishore claimed Hindus have been “slaves to small communities” for a thousand years. “When our identity itself is under threat, I want that no Sanatani should remain silent in their homes. They should do anything they can,” he said, quickly adding, “I am not instigating."
Believing a “divine power” had asked him to commit the act against the CJI, he again pointed towards remarks the CJI made recently while hearing a plea seeking restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in the Javari temple in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. The CJI had later clarified he meant no disrespect.
“It was an injustice that the petition was dismissed,” Kishore further told ANI, “It was my reaction to his action. I am not fearful and I have no regrets.”
‘How is he a Dalit?’
To a question about caste being a factor — BR Gavai is the first Buddhist and only the second Dalit to hold the CJI's post — he said, “My name is Dr Rakesh Kishore. Can someone tell my caste? Maybe I am a Dalit too.”
He added, “He is not a Dalit. He was a Sanatani Hindu first. He then renounced his faith and followed Buddhism. If he feels that he has come out of Hinduism after following Buddhism, how is he still a Dalit?”
Kishore did not specify his own caste.
His action has got support mostly online, but seen widespread condemnation too, with PM Narendra Modi saying there is no place for such attacks in society.