The Supreme Court has sought information on the statement made by Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) program. The Supreme Court has asked the Allahabad High Court for the details of his entire statement. A complaint has also been filed against him in the Supreme Court. National Conference Lok Sabha MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi claimed that Shekhar Yadav should be impeached.
Justice Yadav had declared that practices including Halala (Islamic practice where a divorced woman weds another man, consummates the marriage and then divorces him so she can remarry her first husband) and Char Nikah (taking four wives in Islam) have no place in the country. He also addressed further social media issues. “The Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the speech given by Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court and published in the newspapers. Details and information have been sought from the High Court and the matter is still under consideration,” the apex court pronounced in a statement.
Meanwhile, Mehdi announced that he would bring an impeachment motion against Justice Yadav in Parliament by Art 124(4) of the constitution. “I need the signatures of 100 members to move this motion. More than 7 members including Asaduddin Owaisi, Rajkumar Roat MP from Rajasthan, Sudhama Prasad MP from Bihar, Mohibbullah Nadvi MP from Uttar Pradesh and Ziau Rahman MP from Uttar Pradesh signed it and I thank them for their support and signatures,” he shared.
The lawmaker then added that he is in talks with other leaders from Congress, Samajwadi Party, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) “who assured me that they will sign and support the motion after consultation with their respective party leaderships. I am hopeful that they will support this motion because these are the parties who believe in the of India and it principles and values.”
I am moving impeachment motion in the Parliament in accordance with Art 124(4) of the constitution for the removal of this Justice namely Shekhar K Yadav, a sitting Judge in Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on the charges mentioned in the notice.
— Ruhullah Mehdi (@RuhullahMehdi) December 10, 2024
I need signatures of… pic.twitter.com/l3Ey4xioy9
Furthermore, a left-leaning organization named Campaign for Judicial Accountability & Judicial Reforms (CJAR) has filed a complaint with Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and demanded an internal inquiry against Justice Yadav. CJAR alleged, “This speech of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav has raised doubts in the minds of our citizens about the independence and neutrality of the judiciary. Given the coverage it has received, a strong reaction is necessary.”
Background of the controversy
On Sunday (8th December), a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court delivered a lecture on the constitutional necessity of the Uniform Civil Code at an event hosted by the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) legal cell in Prayagraj. In his speech, Justice Shekhar Yadav voiced “Kathmullas,” in an apparent reference to Islamic fundamentalists, are dangerous for the country. He was speaking on the topic “Uniform Civil Code: A Constitutional Necessity.“
“Lekin yeh jo kathmullah hai jo…yeh sahi shabd nahi hai…lekin kehne mein parhez nahi hai kyunki woh desh ke liye bura hai…desh ke liye ghatak hai, khilaaf hai, janta ko bhadhkane wale log hai…desh aage na badhe is prakar ke log hai…unse saavdhaan rehne ki zaroorat hai (But these kathmullah…this may not be the right word…but I won’t hesitate to say it because they are harmful to the country…they are detrimental, against the nation, and people who incite the public. They are the kind of people who do not want the country to progress, and we need to be cautious of them),” he remarked which led to a major controversy.
He added, “In our country, we are taught from a young age to respect all living beings, even the smallest animals, and to avoid harming them. This lesson becomes a part of who we are, which is perhaps why we are more tolerant and compassionate, feeling pain when others suffer. But this isn’t the case for everyone. In our culture, children are raised with guidance towards God, taught Vedic mantras, and instilled with the values of non-violence. However, in some other cultures, children grow up witnessing the slaughter of animals, which makes it difficult to expect them to develop tolerance and compassion.”
“I have no hesitation in saying that this is Hindustan, this country will run according to the majority living in India. This is the law. You can’t say that I am saying this as a judge of the High Court. The law works according to the majority. Our Hindu religion had many social evils like child marriage, sati and female infanticide, reformers like Ram Mohan Rai fought to eradicate these evils. But when it comes to social evils like halala, triple talaq and issues related to adoption in the Muslim community, then they did not dare to stand up against them,” Justice Yadav charged.
He mentioned that not even Muslims attempted to stop these practices during the program. “You cannot insult that woman who has been given the status of goddess in our scriptures and Vedas. You cannot have the right to have four wives, divorce or triple talaq. You assert that we have the right to perform ‘three talaq’ and women have no right to receive maintenance.”
He pointed out, “No authority can be exercised in this way. UCC is not something advocated by VHP, RSS or Hinduism. Even the Supreme Court of the country is talking about this…I swear that this country will definitely introduce a UCC law, and very soon.” Justice Yadav questioned why Muslims circumvent the law and treat matters like triple talaq and Halala as their laws.
“If you say that our law allows this, it is unacceptable. A woman will get maintenance, two marriages will not be allowed, and a man will have only one wife, not four wives…if one sister gets maintenance and the other does not, it creates discrimination, which is against the Constitution,” he highlighted. Justice Yadav also stated that a Hindu who views India as his mother is just as much a Hindu as one who dips in the Ganga and rubs sandalwood on his head.
