Allahabad High Court expunges remarks by Bareilly judge hailing Yogi Adityanath

March 20, 2024 09:28 pm | Updated 09:39 pm IST - New Delhi

Calling it “unwarranted expressions containing political overtones and personal views”, the Allahabad High Court has expunged the remark recently made a judge hailing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

While expunging the remark by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ), Bareilly, Ravi Kumar Diwakar, the Bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra observed that it is not expected from the judicial officer to express his personal or preconceived notions or inclinations on the matter. A judicial order is meant for public consumption and such a remark in an order is likely to be misconstrued by the masses, the court said.

The court further said that it is expected from a judicial officer that he or she should use guarded expression, while focusing on the issue in hand and should not use any observation alien to the core issue.

ASJ Diwakar, in an order related to the riots that took place in Bareilly in 2010, described Mr. Adityanath as a “philosopher king” and observed that the main reason for riots in India is that political parties are engaged in the “appeasement of a particular religion”.

The High Court’s observation came on March 19 while hearing a plea filed by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, a cleric turned politician, challenging the order of the Bareilly court summoning him to face trial in the riots case. The court did not give any relief to the cleric and asked him to appear before the trial court on or before March 27, and apply for bail.

In his order on March 5, ASJ Diwakar had summoned Mr. Khan and noted that the main reason for riots in India is that the political parties of the country are engaged in the “appeasement of a particular religion”. He added that a mastermind of communal riots is rarely punished in India.

Hailing Mr. Adityanath as a “philosopher king”, the Bareilly ASJ noted that when a religious person is in the seat of power, there are good results.

“At present we say nyay is justice while in old times it meant dharma. Hence the person who holds power should be from a religious community because the life of such people is not for enjoyment but of sacrifice. An example of this is the Peethadeshwar of the great Siddhapeeth Gorakhnath Temple, Mahant Baba Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, the present CM of UP, and he has proven the above concept to be true,” the summon orders issued by the ASJ stated.

Noting that his own family were concerned for his security because he had passed the order of videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi in 2022, the ASJ added that the attitude of people of a particular religion had become strange since he had given that order as if he had “committed some sin” by doing that.