Supreme Court collegium ticks off HC judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav for his speech at VHP event

On Tuesday, a five-judge Supreme Court collegium headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna ticked off Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav for his highly controversial speech at a VHP event and advised him to maintain the dignity of his constitutional post while exercising caution in his public speeches.

On December 10th, the collegium, which included four other senior justices- namely Justice B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy, and A S Oka-had taken cognisance of newspaper reports regarding the speech delivered by Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav on December 8 and sought 'details and particulars' of the speech from the High Court for further examination of the matter which had become a snowball in the concerned activist lawyers and politicians.

Before the five-judge collegium of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice Yadav appeared in response to the summons, adding that he was prepared to explain the purport, the meaning, and the context of his speech, although with a caveat that the media selectively quoted from his speech to create unwarranted controversy.

Well, the collegium does not get convinced. It reprimanded him for the casual way in which some statements were made in the speech. The CJI-led collegium told him that conduct, demeanour, and speech of an HC or SC judge, being a constitutional post holder, is constantly under scrutiny and hence expected to maintain a certain level of the dignity of the high office.

Moreover, apex court senior judges told Justice Yadav that each statement made by a judge of the Supreme Court or High Court, in a public event or inside the courtroom, should be synced with the office’s dignity, causing no damage to the faith of people in the Indian judiciary.

On Dec 12, 2019, Justice Yadav was posted as the additional judge of the Allahabad High Court, and on March 26, 2021, became permanent with his retirement scheduled on April 15, 2026. On Dec 8, his speech at a VHP event supported UCC and targeted the Muslim community, according to reports.

Accordingly, SC recorded this necessity in several pronouncements spread over four decades with loudness about having a Uniform Civil Code (UCC); but what irked lawyers and politicians was Justice Yadav's comments against the Muslim community.

The NGO ‘Committee for Judicial Accountability and Reforms’ led by the senior advocate Prashant Bhushan asked the apex court to conduct an in-house inquiry against the accused judge. A notice was served by MPs from the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha, demanding a removal motion against Justice Yadav.