Arnab calls out CJI Gavai on air; a day later CJI terms it a social-media issue

New Delhi: A day after Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami challenged Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on national television over his courtroom remark in the Khajuraho idol case, the CJI said his words were being portrayed on social media and affirmed that he “respects all religions.”

The one-day gap matters because the backlash had already moved from timelines to primetime before the clarification.

NewsDrum first reported the social-media outrage on September 16, capturing the language that triggered anger and the earliest public reactions, before the debate jumped to a primetime face-off on September 17 and to the CJI’s clarification on September 18.

What happened in court

On September 16, a bench led by the CJI, with Justice K. Vinod Chandran, declined to entertain a plea seeking reconstruction and reinstallation of a seven-foot Lord Vishnu idol at Khajuraho’s Javari Temple.

The court said decisions at a protected monument fall under the Archaeological Survey of India. During the hearing, the matter was termed “publicity interest litigation,” and the CJI reportedly told the petitioner, in substance, to “go and ask the deity… go and pray,” while also pointing to a large Shiva linga at Khajuraho.

What NewsDrum reported first

On September 16 report, NewsDrum documented the wording that upset devotees and compiled the first wave of sober reactions from X, including posts that said “words hurt more than knives” and alleged double standards against Hindu sentiment. 

The article also recorded that the petition, filed by Rakesh Dalal, stressed the Chandela-era idol’s cultural importance and years of unsuccessful representations to authorities.

On September 17, NewsDrum carried former DGP Shesh Paul Vaid’s video calling for the CJI’s resignation and invoking Article 25 on freedom of religion. That clip gathered momentum through the day.

What happened on air

On the night of September 17, Arnab Goswami put the issue at the top of his primetime broadcast. He called the phrasing “genuinely hurtful,” asked whether such language would be used for any other community, and argued that the bench could have made its ASI-jurisdiction point without words that sounded like a taunt to believers.

The segment reframed the story from a procedural disposal to a question of respect for faith voiced from the country’s highest bench.

Was Justice Gavai’s comment on the Khajuraho idol case just a casual quip blown out of proportion, or does it reveal judicial insensitivity towards matters of faith? Legal experts, faith leaders and political voices debate faith, law and respect for institutions tonight

Watch… pic.twitter.com/i5EtinBewP

— Republic (@republic) September 17, 2025

What the CJI said a day later

On September 18, the CJI told open court that his comment had been portrayed on social media and said, “I respect all religions.”

Officials and institutions who treat public sentiment as “only online” risk misreading both the origin and the intensity of a storm that is already in living rooms.