Ramdas Athawale demanded SC/ST Act charges against the man who tried to attack CJI B.R. Gavai.
He said some upper-caste people “could not accept” a Dalit reaching the top judicial post.
PM Modi reportedly spoke to the CJI and condemned the incident.
On Thursday, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale called for the man who attempted to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India B R Gavai to be charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to him, the incident occurred because certain people of the higher caste community were unable to accept that Gavai, a member of the Dalit community, had achieved such a high position.
Athawale, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and a well-known Dalit activist, called the incident unacceptable during a press conference held here.
"Such kind of an attack on the CJI has happened for the first time. Bhushan Gavai is from the Dalit community, and he has achieved his position on his own (merit)," the minister said, adding that some upper caste community members could not digest this fact.
"I demand that the accused should be booked under the SC /ST Act, since Gavai was attacked because he is a Dalit. No CJI was attacked before this," Athawale added.
According to Athawale, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with the CJI following the occurrence and denounced the incident.
Rakesh Kishore, a 71-year-old lawyer, attempted to throw his shoe at the CJI on Monday in an unprecedented and shocking occurrence.
With PTI input.
