55 MPs demand impeachment in High Court judge 'majority' comment row

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A group of 55 Rajya Sabha MPs, led by Kapil Sibal, has submitted a request to impeach Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav for "hate speech and incitement to communal disharmony".


In a 21-page motion submitted to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat Friday morning, Mr Sibal and his colleagues, including the Congress' P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh, the AAP's Raghav Chadha, the Trinamool's Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale, the RJD's Manoj Jha, and the CPIM's John Brittas, argued Justice Yadav's speech - at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad event - "prima facie (shows) evidence (he) has targeted minorities and displayed bias and prejudice against minorities".


The impeachment motion red-flagged what it said was Justice Yadav had crossed a line by "expressing his views on political matters in a public space" and that this was an egregious violation.


"... there is no ground for sitting judges of the High Courts to affiliate with extremist groups or parties. No litigant can hope for justice in a court in which a member holds such a biased, prejudiced, publicly expressed opinion against the minority community and in favour of majoritarian approach."


VIDEO | "Today, we have given a notice to the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha for the impeachment of Justice Shekhar Yadav, Judge of Allahabad High Court. On December 9, he made a hate speech in the premises of High Court," says Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) on… pic.twitter.com/N7KCQyl4rd
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 13, 2024



Justice Yadav, the appeal said, had made "outrageous, derogatory, and hateful statements..."

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Some of those were mentioned (translated from Hindi) in the impeachment appeal, including a reference to "seeing the Ram Mandir with your own eyes", "India should function according to the wishes of the majority... this is the law", and "I have no hesitation in saying this is Hindustan".


The appeal cited a 1997 statement by the Supreme Court on Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, in which it was said "a judge shall not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters, or on matters that are pending, or are likely to arise for judicial determination".


The actions of Justice Yadav, therefore, "are sufficient to prove grounds of misbehaviour and constitute charges of impeachment", based on factors like engaging in hate speech, targeting and making discriminator remarks against minorities, and breaching a constitutional mandate, it said.


The Supreme Court has taken notice of the comments and called for more details.

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Justice Yadav's comments also triggered a furious response from AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who asked, as the MPs seeking impeachment have, how a minority applicant could expect justice from such a judge. "This speech indicts the collegium system and raises questions on judicial impartiality. How can a minority party expect justice before someone who participates in VHP's programs?"


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