Judge's speech at VHP event: Supreme Court seeks report from HC

Stepping in the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought details from the Allahabad High Court on controversial remarks of its judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav at a VHP event that drew flak from various quarters for allegedly breaching judicial ethics with Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal threatening an impeachment motion against the judge for his hate speechAs the row intensified Vishva Hindu Parishad chief Alok Kumar rejected the oppositions criticism of Justice Yadav for his speech at its event in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and asserted such awareness meets would continueAmid a rising clamour for action from Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna against the high court judge for his remarks the apex court issued a statement saying it has taken note of newspaper reports of the judges speech and is considering the matterThe Supreme Court has taken note of the newspaper reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad The details and particulars have been called from the High Court and the matter is under consideration sicrdquo the statement saidAt a VHP function on December 8 Justice Yadav said the main aim of the uniform civil code UCC was to promote social harmony gender equality and secularismHe was addressing a provincial convention of the legal cell and high court unit of the VHP in Allahabad High CourtA day later videos of the judge speaking on provocative issues including the law working according to the majority were circulated widely on social media prompting strong reactions from several quarters including opposition leaders who questioned his reported statements labelling them as hate speechLawyer and convenor of the NGO Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday wrote to CJI Khanna seeking an inhouse enquiry into the conduct of the Allahabad HC judgeA strong institutional response is needed to restore public faith in the judiciary the letter saidRajya Sabha MP and Supreme Court Bar Association Chairman Kapil Sibal alleged that the judge has violated his oath of office by making a hate speech and said that he along with other opposition MPs will submit a notice to bring a motion to impeach the judgeSources said the opposition MPs are likely to submit the notice in the next few daysIf a high court judge can make a speech like this then the question arises how do such people get appointed in the first place The question also arises how do they get the courage to make such remarks The question also arises as to why these things are happening in the last 10 years the senior advocate said at a press conferenceNational Conference Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi also said he is planning to submit a notice to bring an impeachment motion against the judge and has been assured of support by members of the Congress Samajwadi Party DMK and the Trinamool CongressI am moving impeachment motion in the Parliament in accordance with Art 1244 of the Constitution for the removal of this Justice namely Shekhar K Yadav a sitting Judge in Honble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on the charges mentioned in the notice Mehdi said in a post on XMehdi said he has secured the support of seven members including AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi but needs 100 members to sign the notice for the impeachment motionI need the signatures of 100 members to move this motion More than 7 members including asadowaisi sahab Shri Rajkumar Roat Honble MP from Rajasthan Shri Sudhama Prasad ji Honble MP from Bihar Jinab Mohibbullah Sahab Honble MP from UP and Jinab Ziau Rahman sahab Honble MP from UP signed it and I thank them for their support and signatures he saidVishva Hindu Parishad chief Alok Kumar said sitting judges are invited at such awareness meets only to enlighten the audience on topics like UCCWe had invited the judge as a faculty to speak on the Uniform Civil Code We work among former judges invite them to work for the VHP for Hindutva But as far as sitting judges are concerned we do not expect them or invite them to work for the VHP Sometimes on topics like the UCC we do invite them to enlighten us Kumar told PTI on the phoneSo on the issue of UCC the HC judge said at the meet it was a Constitutional mandate under the Directive Principles of State Policy He said it should be expected that the directives should be adhered to by elected representatives He referred to various SC judgments that insisted the governments should evolve a UCC and said that the UCC would be good for complete integration of society and unity of India Kumar saidHe said he was not present at the Prayagraj meeting but was certainly aware of the deliberationsThe VHP leader however said he was not aware of the exact nature of the comments on majority attributed to the HC judge but would not be apologetic even if the HC judge has said so about the majority having a say in how the laws should workWe had invited the judge to speak on the UCC I would not be able to authenticate those views of his but then the sentiments and emotions of the majority society deserve as much respect as the sensitivities of the minority Kumar saidSo I would not be apologetic about it if he the HC judge said so If a majority holds a particular view then others should not make an issue of it he saidOn inviting a sitting judge to the event Kumar said We ask our legal cell to organise awareness sessions or meetings inviting advocates in big numbers to advocate on issues like the liberation of Hindu temples provisions and amendments of the Waqf Act and on UCC So there would be meetings everywhererdquoWe will invite former judges to speak on those aspects the VHP chief told PTIIn his letter to the CJI Bhushan alleged the judge breached judicial ethics and violated the constitutional principles of impartiality and secularismAccording to Bhushan the remarks undermined the judiciarys role as a neutral arbiter and eroded public trust in its independenceWe call upon your office sir the CJI to restore the faith of the people in the institution of the judiciary by immediately setting up an inhouse committee to enquire into acts of judicial impropriety by Justice Yadav and by withdrawing all judicial work from Justice Yadav it said On December 8 CPIM leader Brinda Karat wrote to the CJI stating the judges speech was a violation of his oath and there is no place for such persons in a court of justice Karat sought action from the apex court on the issueThe Bar Association of India also passed a resolution condemning the statement of the high court judgeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever