Rakesh Kishore, a septuagenarian lawyer who is ‘unknown’ in legal circle and ‘invisible’ in society

Advocate Rakesh Kishore, 72, who threw a shoe at Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai earlier this week, is largely unknown in legal circles and was rarely seen in courtrooms.

The act led to the suspension of Mr. Kishore’s Bar membership and his right to practice law. It also brought him into sudden public attention, he says, claiming that he had lived an ‘invisible’ life until now.

A native of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kishore’s father served as the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), a Class I officer responsible for overseeing education and administration in government schools. After completing his early education in his hometown, he attended Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where he claims to have earned an M.Sc. in Medical Entomology. Those who know him say he worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO) on projects related to vector-borne diseases for several years. He decided to become a lawyer at the age of 55 and later joined the Delhi Bar Association (DBA).

“I haven’t seen him in the Supreme Court ever,” said Meenesh Dubey, joint secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Mr. Dubey, who met Mr. Kishore after he was taken into police custody following the incident, suspects that the act was a “publicity stunt”.

Another lawyer at Karkardooma Court, who briefly lived in the same Mayur Vihar society where Mr. Kishore currently resides, said he hadn’t seen him wearing a black coat or practising law.

“I got to know that he was a lawyer only when he contested the society’s election — and he even won,” he said.

Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and a chronic heart condition, Mr. Kishore appears unfazed by the repercussions of his act. His family — his wife and two married daughters — are deeply concerned for his safety, say his neighbours. They also deny that Mr. Kishore is affiliated with any political party, though they acknowledge he admires Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Reacting to a protest by members of a political party outside his residence, where slogans such as “Dalit Ka Apmaan Nahi Sahega Hindustan” (“India will not tolerate the insult of a Dalit”) were raised, Mr. Kishore told The Hindu that he too belongs to the same community as the CJI.

“I am also a Dalit,” he said. He also spoke at length about what ‘provoked’ him to commit the act that is being condemned across the country, and praised the Yogi government’s ‘bulldozer action’ against Muslims in Bareilly, calling it “the only way to deliver justice in present times”.

The septuagenarian, who stays away from social media and dislikes public gatherings, says he has led an ‘invisible’ life so far, and that his love for ‘Sanatan Dharma’ has now brought him into the spotlight.