‘Those who twisted my speech were at fault, not me': Judge who drew ire for remarks on Muslims retires

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Allahabad high court judge, justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, whose incendiary remarks against Muslims two years ago led to the Opposition moving an impeachment notice against him, retired on Wednesday and said his words were twisted. Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav (FILE PH OTO) (HT_PRINT)In December 2024, justice Yadav addressed a gathering organised by the legal cell of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad within the Allahabad High Court Bar Association premises, and made a series of incendiary statements that targeted the Muslim community and invoked majoritarian themes. In his speech, he reportedly asserted that “India should function according to the wishes of the majority,” claimed “only a Hindu can make this country a ‘Vishwa Guru’,” and linked practices such as triple talaq and halala to societal backwardness, calling for their abolition under the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Video clips of the speech, which went viral on social media, show him allegedly using derogatory communal slurs. On Wednesday, he defended himself. Also Read: ‘Deep anguish...’: Inside justice Yashwant Varma's resignation letter to President “Those who twisted my speech were at fault, not me,” he said during a full court reference held on the occasion of his retirement in the courtroom of the chief justice. He thanked the members of the Bar for supporting him during that period, stating, “Another phase came, in which I had no fault, and during that, I got your support. Had I not received it, I would have broken”. Fifty-five Opposition MPs gave an impeachment notice against justice Yadav to the Rajya Sabha on December 13, 2024 over his contentious speech. HT reported later that the Supreme Court was preparing to initiate an in-house inquiry into justice Yadav’s speech but dropped the plan after receiving a categorical letter from the Rajya Sabha secretariat that asserted exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. After justice Yadav’s speech triggered outrage among political leaders, jurists and civil society, senior advocate Kapil Sibal led a group of 55 opposition MPs in filing a notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking his impeachment for “grave violation of judicial ethics.” Amid mounting criticism, the Supreme Court sought a report from the Allahabad high court chief justice on December 10, 2024. A week later, on December 17, the apex court collegium, comprising then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and justices Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and Abhay S Oka, summoned justice Yadav for a closed-door meeting. While justice Yadav reportedly assured the collegium judges he would apologise publicly, he failed to do so in the weeks that followed. Instead, in a January 2025 letter to the chief justice of the Allahabad high court, the judge doubled down on his remarks, claiming they had been misrepresented by vested interests and asserting that his speech reflected societal concerns. In March 2025, the Supreme Court administration received a formal communication from the Rajya Sabha secretariat, informing it that the matter of justice Yadav’s conduct, arising out of the December 13 impeachment motion signed by 55 MPs, was already under active consideration, and that the constitutional mandate for any such proceeding lies solely with the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and ultimately with Parliament and the President. The impeachment notice was never taken up.