BJP leader Bhaskar Rao
Bengaluru: Former Bengaluru police commissioner and BJP leader Bhaskar Rao praised suspended lawyer Rakesh Kishore who tried to attack Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai inside the Supreme Court on Monday.
Kishore, who has remained unapologetic despite widespread condemnation, said that ‘whatever my Lord made me do, I did. I didn’t act on my own’, Siasat.com reported.
Bhaskar Rao, who joined the BJP in 2023 after quitting the Aam Aadmi Party, in a social media post said that he admired Rakesh Kishore’s ‘courage’.
‘Even if it is legally and terribly wrong, I admire your courage, at your age, to take a stand and live by it, irrespective of consequences,’ the former IPS officer said.
In the wake of widespread outrage over Kishore’s act in the court, the Bar Council suspended him from appearing, acting, pleading or practising in any court or tribunal authority in the country until he receives further notice regarding it.
BCI Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra in a letter said that Kishore violated the Council’s ‘Rules on Standards of Professional Conduct and Etiquette’ alongside the dignity of the court.
However, Kishore called the suspension a ‘despotic decree’, adding that ‘The Bar Council sent me a letter last night suspending me. I can show you the letter. This is not just an order, it’s a despotic decree’.
Attributing his action to divine will, Kishore said that ‘Whatever my Lord made me do, I did. I didn’t act on my own. It was the Lord’s will. There is a message behind what happened, and I will explain it’.
The incident linked to his anger came on September 16 hearing before CJI Gavai over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which sought to restore a beheaded 7-foot statue of Lord Vishnu in Khajuraho.
Responding to CJI’s remarks in the court, Kishore reportedly later said that he cried in front of the temple, adding that he felt insulted when the CJI told him ‘Tell your God to restore it if you are a devotee’, terming it a ‘gross injustice’.
Meanwhile, two advocates in Telangana are charged for making casteist remarks in a Whatsapp group against Gavai over the same case.
This comes as many believe that Gavai’s Dalit identity and remarks on the case made him a target.
Karrolla Ravi Babu, an advocate from Siddipet filed a complaint against Prodduturi Srikanth and M Murali Mohan Rao practicing in the Siddipet Munsif Court accusing them of ‘perpetrating atrocities’ against the CJI.
Earlier on September 18, a man identified as Radharamn Das reportedly posted a news a verdict delivered by Justice BR Gavai.
The comment reportedly read: “Shocking! After insulting Lord Vishnu and Hindus yesterday, Supreme Court SUSPENDS the SENTENCE of a Catholic priest CONVICTED for RAPING a minor girl,’ Siasat’s online portal reported.
When this post was shared in the Siddipet advocates’ WhatsApp groups named ADVO Friends (Siddipet District) and District BAS (near & Dear), the accused Advocate Srikanth commented ‘Kanakapu Simhasanamuna’ meaning ‘On a Golden Throne’.
Though not apparently an insult, the verse Kanakapu Simhasanamuna derives from the poem ‘Sumati Satakam’ by 13th Century Telugu poet Baddena Bhupaludu.
The poems says if a dog is made to sit on the throne with coronation done on an auspicious time, it will not change its ways.
‘In the olden days dogs in villages used to eat faeces. Didn’t imagine those dogs of the olden days coming back. Presently one such dog has been found in Delhi,’ Srikanth reportedly added.
Following which another advocate Murali Mohan Rao reportedly remarked that ‘Recently the dog has been made to sit there for two years. The dog has the habit of making over-intelligent statements’.