Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday weighed in on the issue of Opposition MPs seeking the removal of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav over his controversial remarks at an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and said the jurisdiction for the subject matter “constitutionally lies in exclusivity with the Chairman Rajya Sabha and in an eventuality with the Parliament and the President”. “I am seized of an undated notice for motion received on 13 December 2024, bearing 55 purported signatures of the members of the Rajya Sabha seeking removal from office of Justice Shekhar Yadav of Allahabad High Court under Article 124(4) of the Constitution,” Dhankhar said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. “The jurisdiction for the stated subject matter constitutionally lies in exclusivity with the Chairman Rajya Sabha and in an eventuality with the Parliament and the President,” he added. Dhankhar further said that “it is expedient that the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha shares this for information with the Secretary General, Supreme Court of India”. On December 13 last year, 55 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a notice to impeach Justice Yadav under Article 124(4) of the Constitution over his comments made at the Allahabad High Court premises, backing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The MPs accused Justice Yadav of engaging in “hate speech” and “incitement to communal disharmony” in violation of the Constitution. Those who signed the motion initiated by Independent MP Kapil Sibal include the Congress’s P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Vivek Tankha, and Randeep Singh Surjewala; AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha; TMC’s Saket Gokhale and Sagarika Ghose; RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha; SP’s Javed Ali Khan; CPI(M)’s John Brittas; and the CPI’s Sandosh Kumar. In the petition, the MPs made three accusations: that Justice Yadav engaged in hate speech and incitement to communal disharmony in violation of the Constitution; targeted minorities and displayed bias and prejudice against them; and entered into “public debate or expressed his views in public on political matters relating to Uniform Civil Code in violation of the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life – 1997”. The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna also wrote to Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali recently, seeking Justice Yadav’s response on the issue. However, in his response, Justice Yadav had said that he stands by his remarks which, he maintained, did not violate any principle of judicial conduct. Addressing an event organised by the VHP’s legal cell on the Allahabad High Court premises in December last year, Justice Yadav, while backing the UCC, targeted Muslims and said, “You have a misconception that if a law (UCC) is brought in, it will be against your Shariyat, your Islam and your Quran… But I want to say one more thing… whether it is your personal law, our Hindu law, your Quran or whether it is our Gita, as I said we have addressed the ills (buraaiyan) in our practices… kamiyan thi durust kar liye hai (the shortcomings have been addressed) …untouchability… sati, jauhar… female foeticide…we have addressed all those issues… Then why are you not doing away with his law… that while your first wife is there…you can have three wives… without her consent… that is not acceptable.”
