ALLAHABAD High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav, in the line of fire for his controversial comments against Muslims and for supporting the Uniform Civil Code, would not have become a judge had the Supreme Court Collegium heeded the words of one of its own when his elevation to the Bench was under consideration.
What made his eventual elevation more significant was the fact that the person raising the red flag was a judge of the Supreme Court destined to become the Chief Justice of India later.
According to Supreme Court documents perused by The Leaflet, in a 21-page analysis of all the lawyer-candidates recommended for elevation as judges of the Allahabad High Court by the High Court Collegium headed by then Chief Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale on February 14, 2018, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, while he was still a puisne judge of the country’s top court, had strongly opposed the proposal to elevate advocate Yadav to the Bench.
As a judge of the Supreme Court of India, the names were sent to Justice Chandrachud, who had served as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and who later became Chief Justice of India (CJI), for his inputs and comments.
However, the Supreme Court Collegium comprising then CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justice A.K. Sikri and S.A. Bobde, which met on February 12, 2019, decided to ignore the red flag and recommend Yadav’s name along with nine other deferred names for appointment, with the government also playing ball and clearing the appointment.
