Litigants throw shoes at HC judges

Gujarat HC witnessed two shoe hurling episodes on Wednesday. At the receiving end were two judges. The missiles fell far short of the targets and the judges were not hurt.

Gujarat HC witnessed two shoe hurling episodes on Wednesday. At the receiving end were two judges. The missiles fell far short of the targets and the judges were not hurt.

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The first incident took place around 2.30 pm at the court of Justice MD Shah.

Litigant Ramaji Thakor, who had hurled the shoe, said the judge had rejected his bail plea without even "hearing his case" so he was 'frustrated and angry'.

He was arrested by the high court security guards and handed to the police, who are interrogating him after registering a formal complaint.

Around 5 pm, petitioner Bhawani Das did an 'action replay', throwing his shoe at Justice Kalpesh Jhaveri.

Justice Jhaveri had apparently set aside a lower court order favouring Das, a tea stall owner from Rajkot, whose stall had been demolished by the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.

He had approached a local court, which ruled in his favour and ordered that his stall be restored. But Das got miffed after the HC set the order aside.

"In both incidents, the shoes were hurled from a distance, so they fell short of the podium where the judge sits," said a police officer.