Amid calls to impeach Justice SK Yadav, Allahabad High Court Chief Justice changes his roster

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday announced a major change in the roster of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who recently made controversial remarks against the Muslim community at an event organised by the legal cell of Hindu right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)..According to the roster change that will take effect from December 16, Justice Yadav will only be hearing first appeals - cases arising out of orders passed by district courts, and that too only those filed up to 2010. Pertinently, since October 15, Justice Yadav was handling a sensitive roster of bail matters involving rape cases..The roster change has come just two days after the Supreme Court made it public that it has sought a report from the Allahabad High Court on Justice Yadav's speech.Justice Yadav in his speech on December 8 said that India will function as per the wishes of the majority community. In his speech, he also used the term "kathmullah", a slur against Muslims. Justice Yadav also said that the country will soon enact a Uniform Civil Code."I vow that this country will surely enact a uniform law, and it will happen very soon," he said..Since the speech hit the headlines, there has been a growing demand to impeach Justice Yadav and take away his judicial work in the meantime.The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) on December 10 filed a formal complaint with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) demanding an in-house inquiry against Justice Yadav.Ruhullah Mehdi, the Member of Parliament (MP) from Srinagar, also tweeted that he was moving an impeachment motion for the removal of Justice Yadav.Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal also called for Justice Yadav's impeachment, saying that he along with other leaders and MPs will soon bring a motion for the same..All the changes made to the roster by Chief Justice Arun Bhansali today are linked to Justice Yadav.Due to the shifting of the bail matters of rape cases to Justice Singh, the criminal revisions under Section 102 of the Juvenile Justice Act being heard by him will now be listed before Justice Samit Gupta.The bail applications earlier listed before Justice Yadav will now be heard by Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh. The first appeals now handed over to Justice Yadav were earlier being heard by Justice Kshitij Shailendra, who will continue to hear the ones filed after 2011 in addition to other matters on his roster. Justice Shailendra is among the most recent appointees at the High Court and was made permanent only on August 23..What makes the roster change interesting is that Justice Yadav, who has been a judge since 2019, has been holding criminal roster for many months.Before the October 2 roster change, he was hearing bail applications filed till December 10, 2023. Before that, since January 2, he was hearing a certain category of bail applications.In 2023 as well, Justice Yadav was hearing anticipatory bail applications and other criminal cases filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). He held the criminal roster in 2022 as well..[View the roster change]