Noting that a judicial officer was not expected to express or depict personal or preconceived notions in court orders, the Allahabad High Court has expunged the remarks made by a judge recently praising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra on Tuesday noted that Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar in his order dated March 5 had made certain unwarranted expressions containing political overtones and personal views.
It said a judicial order was meant for public consumption and such type of order was likely to be misconstrued by the masses. A judicial officer was expected to use a very guarded expression while focusing on the issue in hand and should not use any observation which were tangent or alien to the core issue.
The High Court directed the expunction of remarks made by the judge in the last paragraph of page 6 of his order to the middle part of page 8.
Earlier on March 6, while hearing case related to the 2010 Bareilly riots, Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar had said that the main reason for riots in India was that the political parties here engaged in appeasement of a particular religion, due to which the morale of prominent people of that particular religion increased. They started believing that even if they got riots etc done, no one would even touch their hair due to protection from those in power.
He added that in the Indian judicial system, it took years for people to get justice due to which the rioters got an incentive to indulge in riots as they felt it was unlikely that they would be punished by the judiciary.
Lauding Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for being the perfect example of a religious person who holds a seat of power with dedication and sacrifice, the judge said that if a religious person sat on the seat of power, he would get very good results, as propounded by philosopher Plato in his concept of the Philosopher King in his book Republic.
The head of power should be a religious person, because the life of a religious person was not of enjoyment but of sacrifice and dedication. For example, the present time Peethadhishwar Mahant Baba Shri Yogi Adityanath Ji of the great Siddhapeeth Gorakhnath Temple, the present Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at present, has proved the above concept to be true, the ASJ had observed.
He further claimed that due to certain orders he had passed in the Gyanvapi Misque dispute, he received threats from a Muslim organisation.
While summoning Maulana Tauqeer Razam, a Muslim cleric in the 2010 Bareilly riots case, the judge said the cleric appeared to have been the mastermind behind the communal riots.
Noting that the police appeared to have tried to support the cleric in 2010 by not mentioning him as an accused in the charge sheet, the court directed Razam to appear before it on March 11.
The ASJ observed that a more recent speech by Razam could have triggered another riot in the State had there been no government led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh.
Expressing disappointment over the case remaining pending before the court since 2010 and was yet to be resolved yet, the judge said that fear was prevalent in the society.
He revealed that due to certain orders he had passed earlier in the Gyanvapi Masjid dispute, he received threats from a Muslim organisation.
As per the judge, he received a 32-page letter containing threats. A criminal case was also filed in this regard in Varanasi, but no one has been arrested in the case yet, he added.
He said that his family, including his mother, brother, wife and children were worried about his safety and health was worried about them.