The Allahabad High Court, in the case of Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan v. State of UP, has expunged the recent remarks made by a judge praising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra emphasized that it is inappropriate for a judicial officer to express personal or preconceived notions in orders. The Court highlighted that Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar’s order dated March 5 contained unwarranted expressions with political overtones and personal views.
“The judicial order is meant for public consumption and such type of order is likely to be misconstrued by the masses. It is expected from judicial officer that he should use a very guarded expression while focusing upon the issue in hand and should not use any observation which are tangent or alien to the core issue,” the High Court stated in its order.
Consequently, the Court directed the removal of remarks made by the judge from the last paragraph of page 6 of his order to the middle part of page 8.
In his order, Judge Diwakar had commended CM Yogi Adityanath as an exemplar of a religious figure holding a position of power with dedication and sacrifice. He had expressed concerns about political parties engaging in religious appeasement, which, according to him, emboldens certain individuals to incite riots.
These remarks were made while summoning Muslim cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan in the 2010 Bareilly riots case, where Khan was alleged to be the main mastermind behind the riots.
Khan, in response, filed a criminal revision plea before the High Court challenging the order. The High Court, while refusing immediate relief regarding the non-bailable warrant against Khan, directed him to appear before the trial court by March 27 and apply for bail, with his bail application to be decided in accordance with the law.
Senior Advocate Satish Trivedi and Advocate Sheshadri Trivedi represented the revisionist in the case.
