During an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday, Allahabad High Court Judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav endorsed the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and stated that laws should align with the preferences of the majority.
Over his recent controversial remarks at Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) event, members of several opposition parties on Friday moved a notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking the impeachment of Allahabad High Court Judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav. Led by Samajwadi Party MP Kapil Sibal, the lawmakers submitted the motion to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General.
As per reports, the notice was signed by 55 opposition MPs, including Kapil Sibal, Vivek Tankha, Digvijaya Singh, John Brittas, Manoj Kumar Jha and Saket Gokhale while some of the other prominent MPs who have signed the notice were P Chidambaram, Randeep Surjewala, Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Naseer Hussain, Raghav Chadha, Fauzia Khan, Sanjay Singh, AA Rahim, V Sivadasan and Renuka Chowdhury.
During an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday, Justice Yadav endorsed the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and stated that laws should align with the preferences of the majority.
He was quoted by LiveLaw as saying, "This is the law... The law, in fact, works according to the majority. Look at it in the context of family or society... Only what benefits the welfare and happiness of the majority will be accepted."
Justice Yadav, without explicitly naming the Muslim community, asked how their children would be kind and tolerant when animals were being slaughtered in front of them since childhood. He also said while everybody from the community was not bad, "kathmullas are fatal for the country".
In his lecture on the topic, Uniform Civil Code: A Constitutional Necessity, while drawing a comparison between Hinduism and Islam, Justice Yadav reportedly remarked that practices such as untouchability, Sati, and Jauhar had been abolished within Hinduism, yet the Muslim community continued to permit the practice of polygyny, halala, triple talaq etc.
He said, "If you say that our personal law allows this, it will not be accepted. You can't disrespect a woman who has been recognised as a goddess in our Shastras and Vedas. You can't claim the right to have four wives, perform halala, or practice triple talaq. You say, 'we have the right to triple talaq and not give maintenance to women'. But this right will not work. The UCC isn't something that the VHP, RSS, or Hinduism advocate. The country's top court also talks about it.”
Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav took oath as an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court in December 2019. He graduated in Law from Allahabad University in 1988 and began his legal practice at the Allahabad High Court, specialising in Civil and Constitutional matters. Over the years, he has held several key positions, including serving as an Additional Government Advocate and as Standing Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh.