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Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court, said he had no hesitation in saying that “Hindustan would run as per the wishes of the majority people” living in the country.
“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 was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.
He made the controversial remarks while speaking on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) event in Pragyagraj. Another sitting High Court judge, Justice Dinesh Pathak was also present.
Without naming the Muslim community, the judge said that practices like having multiple wives, triple talaq and halal were “unacceptable”.
“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 halal, 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,” he added.
The judge acknowledged that there were social evils in Hinduism like child marriage and Sati, “but reformers like Ram Mohan Roy fought to end these practices”.
He also said that Hindus do not expect other communities to follow the same culture and traditions, but they are “definitely expected not to disrespect the culture of this country, the great personalities, and the god of this land”.
“In our country, we are taught not to harm even the smallest animals, not to kill ants, and this lesson is ingrained in us. Perhaps that is why we are tolerant and compassionate; we feel pain when others suffer. But in your culture, from a young age, children are exposed to the slaughter of animals. How can you expect them to be tolerant and compassionate?”
While expressing hope for a nationwide UCC, he said that building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya took time, but “the day is not far when it will be clear that if there is one country, there should be one law, and one penal law. Those who try to deceive or run their own agendas will not last long”.
This is not the first time that Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav has made controversial remarks.
In September 2021, he made national headlines after observing that “scientists believe that the cow is the only animal that exhales oxygen”. He also called on Parliament to make the cow the national animal and declare cow protection as a “Fundamental Right of Hindus”.
These remarks were made while rejecting the bail plea of a man accused of theft and trafficking of cows under the UP Cow Slaughter Act.
Also that year, he made a “suggestion” to the Election Commission to ban election rallies and postpone the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due to the Covid-19 threat.
