Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court is preparing to retire on Wednesday, leaving an unresolved impeachment initiative in Parliament stemming from a controversial speech he made during an event hosted by an organization affiliated with the RSS in December 2024.
Before his appointment to the High Court, Justice Yadav worked as an assistant government advocate and faced internal opposition during his elevation within the Supreme Court.
In October 2018, the Collegium, led by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra and including Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Madan B Lokur, chose to postpone his promotion. However, in February 2019, a reconstituted Collegium, under Chief Justice Gogoi alongside Justices A K Sikri and S A Bode, recommended him for the position.
Justice Yadav was designated as an additional judge in December 2019 and later confirmed as a permanent judge in March 2021.
In various rulings concerning cow slaughter, Justice Yadav advocated for the Union government to declare the cow as the national animal and to recognize cow protection as a fundamental right for Hindus, highlighting the advantages of cows and their milk.
In October 2021, while granting bail to an individual accused of making social media posts against Hindu deities, Justice Yadav urged Parliament to enact legislation to honor deities such as Ram and Krishna, as well as their literary works, including the Ramayana and the Gita, along with their authors, Valmiki and Ved Vyas.
The speech that triggered his impeachment proceedings occurred on December 8, 2024, when Justice Yadav spoke at an event organized by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, an RSS-associated group, at the premises of the Allahabad High Court.
While discussing the Uniform Civil Code, Justice Yadav remarked, “I have no hesitation in saying that India will run according to the wishes of the majority,” and reportedly used a derogatory term for Muslims while criticizing practices like triple talaq.
In response, thirteen senior advocates of the Supreme Court addressed a letter to then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, requesting that the CBI file a First Information Report against Justice Yadav.
The Supreme Court Collegium subsequently summoned Justice Yadav and reportedly requested a public apology from him. However, he allegedly refused and communicated to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court that he stood by his comments.
On December 13, 2024, a group of 54 Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha filed a notice to impeach Justice Yadav, accusing him of making hate speech and inciting communal discord. He received backing from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Ultimately, the impeachment process stalled as the Rajya Sabha Secretariat identified discrepancies in several of the 54 signatures on the motion and initiated a verification procedure. By mid-2025, only 44 MPs had verified their signatures, which was insufficient to advance the motion.
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