SC seeks report from HC; Sibal threatens impeachment motion

New Delhi/Lucknow: 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 speech”.

As the row intensified, Vishva Hindu Parishad chief Alok Kumar rejected the opposition’s criticism of Justice Yadav for his speech at its event in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and asserted such “awareness meetings” would continue. Amid 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 state-ment saying it has taken note of newspaper reports of the judge’s speech and is considering the matter.

At a VHP function on December 8, Justice Yadav said the main aim of the uni-form civil code (UCC) was to promote social harmony, gender equality and secularism. He was addressing a provincial convention of the legal cell and high court unit of the VHP in Allahabad High Court. A 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 reac-tions from several quarters, including opposition leaders who questioned his reported statements, labelling them as “hate speech”.

Lawyer and convenor of the NGO Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday wrote to CJI Khanna seeking an “in-house enquiry” into the conduct of the Allahabad HC judge. “A strong institu-tional response is needed to restore public faith in the judiciary,” the letter said. Rajya 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 judge. Sources said the opposition MPs are likely to submit the notice in the next few days. “If 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 confer-ence.