Justice Yadav impeachment: Kapil Sibal queries Rajya Sabha chairman Dhankhar’s inaction

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday, 10 June, questioned why chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had not taken any action on the notice for moving an impeachment motion against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav and alleged the government was trying to save the judge after he made "entirely communal" remarks last year.

Sibal, who is also a senior advocate, said the whole incident smacks of "discrimination" as, on one hand, the Rajya Sabha secretary general wrote to the Chief Justice of India to not go ahead with an in-house inquiry against Yadav as a petition was pending against him before the Upper House, while did not do so in the case of Justice Yashwant Varma.

Sibal said it was very unfortunate and questions are bound to arise when the person who is occupying the constitutional post that is second in the hierarchy does not fulfil constitutional obligations in six months.

"On 13 December 2024, we had given a notice for an impeachment motion to the Chairman, Rajya Sabha. It had signatures of 55 MPs. Six months have gone [by], but no steps have been taken," Sibal said at a press conference in New Delhi.

"I want to ask those who are sitting in constitutional posts: their responsibility is to only verify whether signatures are there or not; should that take six months? Another question that arises is whether this government is trying to protect Shekhar Yadav," Sibal said.

On the "instructions" of the VHP, Yadav had made a speech in the high court premises and then the matter came to the Supreme Court, which took action, he said.

"Yadav was questioned in Delhi. A report was also sought from the Chief Justice, Allahabad High Court. I heard the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court gave a negative report and, amidst this, on 13 February 2025, the [Rajya Sabha] Chairman said that the matter should be looked at in a constitutional way and Parliament can take it forward," Sibal said.

The Rajya Sabha secretariat sent a letter to the CJI asking that no action be taken and it was said that the matter would be taken up in the Rajya Sabha as there was an impeachment motion notice, so the Supreme Court must stop its in-house procedure against Yadav, Sibal said.

"I don't understand on what basis this happened. Should the Chairman write such a letter to the CJI? The in-house procedure is the Supreme Court's own; it has no connection with the impeachment motion. Till now [the] impeachment motion has not even been admitted. It has been six months and only signatures are being verified," Sibal said.

So when the impeachment motion has not been admitted, what connection does it have to the Supreme Court in-house inquiry, and even if it had been admitted, still what connection does it has with the inquiry, Sibal asked.

"What Justice Yadav said is before everyone — there is no doubt about that. He has not disputed it. The Supreme Court had to decide whether he should have said so — as according to us, this is a totally communal statement — and also decide whether he should sit on the chair of the judge after making that statement," Sibal said.

"Why did you not write a letter over the in-house inquiry against Justice Varma? So does this government want to protect Shekhar Yadav? We think they want to save him," he said.

So either no action will be taken or they will reject a few signatures in the impeachment notice and reject the motion so that "we go to the Supreme Court and it takes time, which would ensure that Shekhar Yadav retires in 2026", Sibal said.

"So according to me this is unfortunate and it smacks of discrimination. The intention of this government is to save Yadav because what he said was entirely communal," he said.

Members of several opposition parties on 13 December had moved the notice in the Upper House for the impeachment of Allahabad High Court judge Yadav over his controversial remarks at a VHP event.

The notice for moving the impeachment motion was signed by 55 opposition MPs, including Sibal, Jairam Ramesh, Vivek Tankha, Digvijaya Singh, John Brittas, Manoj Kumar Jha and Saket Gokhale.

The notice for the motion was moved under the Judges' (Inquiry) Act, 1968, and Article 218 of the Constitution, seeking initiation of proceedings for impeachment of Justice Yadav.

The notice mentioned that the speech/lecture delivered by Justice Yadav during an event organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) prima facie showed that he "engaged in hate speech and incitement to communal disharmony in violation of the Constitution of India".

The notice also mentioned that the judge prima facie showed that he targeted minorities and displayed bias and prejudice against them.

At a VHP function on 8 December 2024, Justice Yadav said the main aim of a uniform civil code was to promote social harmony, gender equality and secularism.

A day later, videos of the judge speaking on provocative issues, including the law working according to the majority, were circulated widely on social media, prompting strong reactions from several quarters, including opposition leaders.