CPI (M)'s Brinda Karat.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Monday wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna demanding action against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav for his comment that the country will function according to the wishes of the majority living here.
The All India Lawyers Union (AILU) also protested against the comments made by Justice Yadav at a meeting organised by the VHP, saying democracy is not majoritarianism or religious majoritarianism and Justice Yadav’s expression and concept of democracy is “nothing less than of Hindutva Rashtra”.
In her letter, Karat said Justice's speech was "hate speech" and it was a violation of his oath on the Constitution when he was inducted as a judge.
"This speech is an affront to the collective conscience of a secular and democratic country. That it should have been made by a justice of the Allahabad High Court is also an assault on the processes of justice. 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 a majoritarian approach," she said.
"Such a member brings disgrace to the bench, to the court, to the judicial system as a whole. There can and should be no place for such persons in a court of justice. The country would no doubt be grateful for action from the highest court on this issue," she said.
In a statement, AILU president and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha floor leader Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya and AILU General Secretary PV Surendranath expressed their "strong disagreement and protest" against Yadav's speech and demanded intervention of President Droupadi Murmu and Chief Justice Khanna to initiate proceedings against the erring judge.