Law is what makes the majority happy: Allahabad High Court judge

“The country would function according to the wishes of the majority…the law works according to the majority…only what benefits the welfare and happiness of the majority would be accepted,” asserted sitting high court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav. Inducted as a judge in 2019, he is due to retire in 2026.

He was addressing a gathering of lawyers and other Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists in the library hall of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday on ‘Uniform Civil Code’. The event hosted by the high court unit of the VHP also discussed the ‘Waqf Board Act’ and ‘Religious Conversion – Causes and Prevention’.

No, Justice Yadav had no comments to offer on caste atrocities and discrimination among Hindus or honour killing or indeed about the vigilante groups enforcing the wishes of the majority. He did however say in his address delivered in Hindi that the Hindu society had got rid of untouchability and ‘sati’ but the Muslims had failed to end the practice of having multiple wives, triple talaq and halala.

“This is the historic library hall of the court, where so many great personalities have been. I am speaking here, among them... Not just saying. I am taking an oath that this country will definitely bring a single law, and it will bring it very soon", he was quoted as saying in Hindi in the closed-door event.

He also seemed to believe that women are revered as goddesses in Hindu scriptures but are disrespected by the Muslims. He pointedly spoke of the ‘top court’ in the country also speaking favourably on the uniform civil code.

Justice Yadav, who hails from Allahabad and had done his law from Allahabad University, also added that ‘Hindu’ is not one who takes a dip in the Ganga or applies chandan but…anyone who considers this land their mother, who is willing to lay down their life for the country in times of crisis, regardless of their religious practices or beliefs, whether they follow the Quran or the Bible, is a Hindu.

Abhishek Atreya, national co-convener of the VHP’s legal cell and chief guest of the inaugural session of the four-session workshop, was quoted by the media as saying that Bangladesh had become a “second Kashmir” in the last few months.

There were no surprises as Justice Yadav is known for his majoritarian views reflected in his rulings. In some of his judgments he has earlier advised the union government to declare the cow as India’s national animal; in another he ruled that Parliament should pass a law to declare Ram, Krishna, the Ramayan and the Gita integral to India’s heritage.

Some of the other gems from his rulings are:

Scientists believe that cow is the only animal that inhaled and exhaled oxygen.

'Panchgavya' prepared using cow's milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung helps in treating several incurable diseases.

According to Hinduism, 33 categories of gods and goddesses reside in a cow... Lord Krishna got all his knowledge from cow's feet," the court order said.

Jesus Christ has said that killing a cow or a bull is tantamount to killing a man. "Lord Buddha describes cows as the friend of man, whereas Jains have called cow heaven," it said.