Lawyer throws shoe at India’s chief justice over remark about Hindu god

NEW DELHI, India — A lawyer tried to hurl what appeared to be a shoe at India’s Chief Justice B.R. Gavai in the Supreme Court on Monday, media and lawyers present said, over recent remarks he made about the Hindu god Vishnu.

Gavai reportedly said in separate court proceedings recently that a man filing a plea seeking the replacement of a damaged statue of the god should “go and ask the deity himself to do something,” and the court rejected the plea.

The lawyer on Monday approached the raised platform where Gavai was sitting and had to be stopped by security personnel as he prepared to throw an object at him, media reported.

Gavai, who is set to retire next month as India’s top judge, asked the court to continue proceedings as his would-be attacker was led out of court, legal website LiveLaw said.

LiveLaw said it was not clear whether the object in the attacker’s hand was a shoe or a roll of paper.

“We will not tolerate any insult to Sanatan Dharma,” the attacker, whose name was not given in reports on the incident, shouted as he was being led out, referring to another name for Hinduism, the Hindustan Times newspaper said.

Last month, Gavai said that the remarks he had made in court about the god were misconstrued and that he respected all religions.

An association of Supreme Court lawyers condemned Monday’s incident and demanded that the court initiate proceedings against the lawyer involved.

“This behavior is antithetical to the dignity of the legal profession and contrary to the constitutional values of decorum, discipline, and institutional integrity,” the Supreme Court Advocates-on-record Association said in a statement.

India’s Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta said the attack was a result of misinformation on social media.

“I have personally seen Chief Justice visiting religious places of all religions with full reverence,” Mehta told Reuters in a text message.