HC judge who gave communal speech at VHP event has frequently referenced Hindutva in his judgements

Controversy had been stirred even before the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s event on the “Constitutional Necessity of Uniform Civil Code” took place in Prayagraj on Sunday. Critics questioned the appropriateness of a programme by a Hindutva organisation being allowed on the premises of the Allahabad High Court and about the decision of a sitting judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav to participate.

At the event, Yadav demonstrated that their fears were not unjustified. In his speech, the judge declared that India would run as per the wishes of its majority. He also used a communal slur to refer to Muslims and in a thinly-veiled dig, described the community as “harmful to the country”.

Given Yadav’s judicial record, his address, echoing the communal rhetoric of Hindutva organisations, was not a surprise.

Scroll looked at several of his orders over the last three-and-a-half years and found that Yadav has a pattern of referring to Hindutva talking points. In his judgements, he has suggested that the state should to honour the cow as well as Hindu gods, referred to conspiracy theories about religious conversions and accused people of making false complaints under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.

He has even openly praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav...

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