By Damini Nath & Liz Mathew
Acting on a notice to impeach Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar is likely to form an inquiry committee to look into the alleged hate speech made by the judge at a VHP event in December last year, The Indian Express has learnt.
It is learnt that six months after Opposition MPs submitted a representation with 55 signatures to bring an impeachment motion against the judge to Dhankhar, the process of verifying the signatures is underway. To start impeachment proceedings, at least 50 MPs in Rajya Sabha or at least 100 in Lok Sabha have to sign the resolution, according to the Judges Inquiry Act.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on March 21, Dhankhar had said that two mails had been sent to the MPs asking them to verify their signatures. “Of the 55 members who signed the representation, a member’s signature appears on two occasions and the member concerned has denied his signature. Now I do not wish to get into this act which may graduate to culpability to a higher level. If the number is above 50, I will proceed accordingly. Therefore, most of the members have cooperated. Those members who have not done so far, may please do it in response to the second mail sent to them,” he had said.
Sources in the Opposition told The Indian Express that the signature duplication happened due to some misunderstanding during the signing of the papers. Three sets of representation were prepared for submission, they said. The sources said the requisite number of signatures were there to proceed with the impeachment proceedings, even if one signature is declared invalid.
The Opposition has been pushing the Rajya Sabha to initiate the process against Justice Yadav for his controversial speech.
Speaking at the VHP event on December 8 last year, Justice Yadav had said: “I have no hesitation in saying that this is Hindustan… and the country will run according to the majority who live in Hindustan.”
Supporting a Uniform Civil Code, he referred to the Muslim community, 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.” He said untouchability, sati, jauhar and female foeticide had been addressed. “Then why are you not doing away with… that while your first wife is there… you can have three wives… without her consent… that is not acceptable.”
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.