Overview
- The Supreme Court Bar Association terminated Rakesh Kishore’s membership and cancelled his access cards, and the Bar Council of India suspended him from practice pending disciplinary proceedings.
- Chief Justice B.R. Gavai said he and Justice K. Vinod Chandran were shocked but considered the episode closed, as Justice Ujjal Bhuyan termed the act an affront to the institution and the solicitor general called it unpardonable.
- Delhi Police released Kishore after the Supreme Court Registrar declined further action, and a request for the attorney general’s consent to initiate criminal contempt has been filed.
- Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha police registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 132 and 133, and Punjab Police filed multiple FIRs over casteist and hateful social media posts targeting the CJI.
- Kishore linked his outburst to remarks attributed to the CJI during a Khajuraho idol case, comments the chief justice later clarified were misrepresented.