New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday deprecated the hurling of a shoe by a lawyer at Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and said appropriate measures need to be taken to prevent such incidents in future.
Observing that the incident has hurt not only members of the Bar but everybody, a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said it shares the concerns of the petitioner, perhaps with more intensity.
“We share your concern, perhaps with more intensity. It has hurt not only members of the Bar but everybody.
“It is not the question of an individual. Such incidents should not only be deprecated but appropriate measures need to be taken,” the bench said.
The high court’s observations came while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking guidelines to take down videos of the shoe-hurling incident being circulated on social media.
Petitioner Tejaswi Mohan said the video was still being circulated on social media and they were also seeking directions to ensure that if such incidents happen in future, the identity of the culprit person should be hidden so that they do not get publicity.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Centre, informed the court about the pendency of a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) before the apex court in which they have prayed for contempt action against the lawyer who threw the shoe at the CJI in the open court.
Sharma said while he shared the petitioner’s concerns, it would be appropriate for Mohan to approach the Supreme Court in the pending proceedings.
The ASG also referred to a newspaper report saying that besides issuance of guidelines, the top court might also consider passing a John Doe order to prevent such incidents.
To this, the bench said, “As per the news report, the Supreme Court has also said that it will consider passing a John Doe order and issue guidelines to prevent such incidents. And if you intervene there, you may always press for issuance of an order or directions to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or the government agencies to frame some guidelines or protocols…
“You may apprise the Supreme Court of this matter being filed and seek intervention there. Otherwise, we will entertain.”
The bench said it was only thinking because of the duplicity of proceedings. The court kept the petition pending before it and asked the petitioner to seek intervention in the pending case before the Supreme Court.
“We can see the Supreme Court intends to enlarge the scope of the matter. Just to avoid duplicity of proceedings… we would be happy to issue directions as prayed,” the chief justice said.
As the petitioner’s counsel said he would seek intervention in the pending proceedings before the Supreme Court, the high court listed the petition for further proceedings on December 4.
On October 6, 71-year-old advocate Rakesh Kishore attempted to hurl a shoe towards the CJI in his courtroom which prompted the Bar Council of India (BCI) to suspend his licence with immediate effect.
The CJI, who remained unfazed during and after the unprecedented incident during the court proceedings, asked the court officials and the security personnel present inside the courtroom to “just ignore” it and to let off the errant lawyer with a warning.
While hearing the SCBA’s plea seeking contempt action against advocate Kishore, the apex court refused to initiate contempt action against the lawyer but said it will consider laying down guidelines to prevent such incidents. (PTI)
