Man hurls papers at Supreme Court Bench after incoherent submissions

A man, appearing to be a litigant-in-person, addressed a Supreme Court Bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe incoherently for a few minutes before hurling a bundle of papers towards the Bench on Friday (July 10, 2026). The papers flew into the air inside the courtroom.

Security personnel immediately apprehended the man and led him away as the two judges and a stunned courtroom looked on.

The man addressed the Bench as “Mr. Judicial Servant” while “ordering” the judges to take action against a senior police officer based in Lucknow.

Justice Viswanathan initially intervened to ask the man whether he was actually “ordering” the Bench. In response, the man gave a garbled reply about being “sovereign” before abruptly saying, “That is all from my side. Everything is on record.” He then took loose papers from a file and threw them towards the Bench. Security personnel intervened within moments.

The incident is reminiscent of a similar one in October last year when a lawyer flung an object at a Bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice B.R. Gavai. The lawyer had shouted slogans of “Sanatan Dharma” as he was escorted out by security personnel.

Justice Gavai had brushed aside the incident and declined to initiate contempt proceedings against the man.

In 2009, a woman threw a slipper at Justice Arijit Pasayat (now retired) during the hearing of a contempt case. The slipper missed the judge, who ducked in time. The woman was taken into custody.

A more serious incident occurred in March 1968 in the courtroom of the Chief Justice of India, when a knife-wielding man attacked the judges on the Bench.

The then Chief Justice of India, Justice M. Hidayatullah, who was heading the Bench, wrestled the attacker to the ground and held him until security personnel climbed onto the judges’ dais to apprehend him. By then, the assailant had attacked Justice A.N. Grover, who fell after sustaining a blow to the back of his head.