Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has intervened to expunge controversial remarks made by a judge in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was lauded as a modern-day ‘philosopher king’ and Muslims were blamed for communal riots in the country.
Additional District Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar’s comments on March 5th during a hearing related to the Bareilly riots of 2010 sparked widespread criticism and demands for disciplinary action. The judge had made personal observations and expressed political opinions in the case, prompting the High Court to intervene.
In its ruling on March 19, the High Court deemed Diwakar’s remarks as “unwarranted expressions containing political overtones and personal views.” Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra chastised the judge for including personal experiences in the judicial order, stating that such expressions were unnecessary and prone to misinterpretation by the public.
The contentious portion of Diwakar’s order, spanning from the last paragraph of page six to the middle part of page eight, was expunged by the High Court.
During the March 5 hearing, Judge Diwakar had invoked serious charges against Muslim cleric-politician Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan for his alleged involvement in the 2010 Bareilly riots. Diwakar not only praised Chief Minister Adityanath for his religious background but also blamed political parties’ alleged “appeasement” of Muslims for riots in the country.
Moreover, Judge Diwakar’s remarks extended to his tenure in Varanasi and his involvement in the Gyanvapi Masjid legal battle, where he claimed to have faced threats from Muslim groups. Diwakar hailed Adityanath as a modern-day example of a ‘philosopher king,’ a term coined by ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
In the Bareilly riots case, Diwakar added Maulana Khan’s name to the chargesheet and summoned him to appear before the court. Khan, a prominent cleric and political figure, was accused of masterminding the riots that erupted over a dispute during a Muslim religious procession in 2010.
Diwakar’s past involvement in the Gyanvapi Masjid controversy in Varanasi also came under scrutiny. As a civil judge, he ordered the sealing of a portion of the mosque based on Hindu plaintiffs’ claims, further intensifying the communal tensions surrounding the historical site.
