Shoe throwing incident: AG grants consent to initiate contempt action against lawyer
New Delhi(PTI): The Attorney General has granted consent for initiating contempt action against an advocate, who had hurled a shoe towards Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, the Supreme Court was on Thursday informed.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was requested by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) chief and senior advocate Vikas Singh that the contempt case be heard against advocate Rakesh Kishore, who hurled a shoe at the CJI.
Singh said social media has gone “berserk” over the incident that took place on October 6 and was demeaning the institutional integrity and dignity.
Mehta and Singh urged the court to pass a restraining order on social media, saying all kinds of demeaning comments are being made.
The bench said the fundamental right of speech and expression is not absolute and cannot be at the cost of the integrity and dignity of others.
It pointed out to the ill-effects of the "unregulated" nature of social media and said, "we are both product and consumer" of the content.
The top court, however, was reluctant to list the contempt case urgently, saying “Lets see if some saleable points are still left after a week.”
On October 6, in a shocking security breach, 71-year-old Kishore hurled a shoe towards the CJI in his courtroom which prompted the Bar Council of India to suspend his license 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.
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Punjab Police security cover of MP Harbhajan Singh withdrawn
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Police is learnt to have withdrawn the security cover of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh, one of the seven lawmakers who switched to the BJP from AAP alongside Raghav Chadha, sources said.
The police security cover comprising 9-10 policemen was withdrawn on Saturday, they said.
The Punjab Police security was deployed at the former cricketer's residence at the Chhotti Baradari locality in Jalandhar.
Meanwhile, security personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force could be seen deployed outside the residence of the former cricketer on Sunday.
AAP workers on Saturday held protests outside the residences of Singh, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta, who have joined BJP, and wrote 'Gaddar' (traitor) on the boundary walls of their residences with spray paint in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
On Friday, AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak had announced their exit from the party as they joined the BJP along with five other MPs -- Mittal, Singh, Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney.
Chadha alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals, which is why he was joining the BJP. He said the seven had merged with the BJP as a faction.
In the immediate wake of the exodus, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dubbed the seven leaders "gaddars".
Mann alleged that the BJP was trying to break the AAP and had "betrayed the people of Punjab".
