Shekhar Kumar Yadav
Credit: Website/allahabadhighcourt.in
New Delhi: Close on the heels of their counterparts in Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha have started a process to submit a notice to impeach Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of Allahabad High Court for his controversial comments challenging the secular fabric of the country and making him incapable of serving as a non-partisan judge.
Sources said MPs in Rajya Sabha have already collected over 50 signatures, which is mandatory for its acceptance for further processing, and are in the process of submitting it as early as Friday.
The move in Lok Sabha was initiated by National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi. In the Lower House, the signatures of 100 MPs are required for its acceptance.
Sources said several Opposition MPs, including Congress' Shashi Tharoor and Mohammed Jawed, CP(ML)L's Sudama Prasad, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)'s Surpriya Sule, have signed the notice against Justice Yadav, who made the controversial comments during a meeting on Uniform Civil Code organised by VHP.
"(I am) pleased to sign the petition along with other MPs to impeach a High Court judge who has sadly violated the basic canons of judicial integrity. The independence and fair-mindedness of our judges must be beyond question if the people’s faith in our justice system is to be preserved and protected," Tharoor posted on 'X'.
Sources said the notice pointed out that the judge's comment that India will function according to the wishes of the majority living here undermines the perception of neutrality that is integral to the functioning of democracy and violates the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, 1997.
It also said Justice Yadav's use of a derogatory words against Muslims perpetuates stereotypes and foster communal disharmony and it made him incapable of serving as a non-partisan judge as is required under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The notice also found his public declarations endorsing the ideological position of the VHP blurred the line between judicial office and political activism, while seeking his removal from the office.
His continuance was "detrimental to the integrity, impartiality, and secular ethos of the judiciary", the sources said quoting the notice.