Key Points

The comments came while the CJI's bench was hearing an unrelated matter where Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayan had appeared.

Following the CJI's comment, his brother, Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan, condemned the failed attack. Highlighting the seriousness of the incident, Justice Bhuyan said that it's not a matter of joke, it's an affront to the institution.

The Solicitor General of India (SGI), Tushar Mehta, who was also present in the Court, concurred with the view and said that the act was unpardonable. It was the CJI's magnanimity that the said attacker was pardoned by the Court, Mehta added.

The said attack occurred on Monday when the septuagenarian entered Court No. 1 and attempted to throw a shoe towards the CJI-led bench. According to the attacker, the motive behind his attack was that he was disgruntled by the CJI's remarks that were made recently during the hearing of a plea that sought restoration of a beheaded structure of Lord Vishnu in a temple in Khajuraho.

CJI Gavai had, during the hearing of the Lord Vishnu idol matter, remarked that the petitioner seeking directions to restore the idol should go and seek the remedy by praying to Lord Vishnu, as the Court declined to entertain the same.

While refusing to hear the case, the top court opined that it's a dispute over a temple, which is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), suggesting that the ASI is a better authority to intervene in this regard.

- ANI