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Babri demolition case judge’s wait for promotion finally ends
Amid increased clamour for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Sunday, there came some good news to Surendra Kuamar Yadav, special judge hearing the Babri mosque demolition case.
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Amid increased clamour for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Sunday, there came some good news to Surendra Kumar Yadav, special judge hearing the Babri mosque demolition case.
The Allahabad high court on Sunday posted Yadav as the district and sessions judge of Lucknow but also asked him to continue to preside over the Babri demolition case.
Incidentally, Yadav had been appointed district and sessions judge of Badaun six month ago but the order was cancelled the same day on the ground that the Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the judge conducting the Ayodhya trial would not be transferred till the trail was complete.
So despite his elevation to the post of the district judge, Yadav had been functioning as additional district judge.
But the ‘long-awaited’ posting for the judge did not come easily. Yadav had to move the Supreme Court complaining that the Babri mosque case was stalling his promotion and requested he be relieved of the same and given the posting he was naturally entitled to after the promotion orders.
In his plea to the apex court in mid-September this year, Yadav said he be allowed to file an application seeking recall of the court’s notification that had said that the judge should not transferred till the hearing in the Babri mosque demolition case was complete. The Supreme Court had asked him to give his plea to the court in a sealed envelope.
The apex court on April 19, 2017 had revived the conspiracy charges against top BJP leaders, including LK Advani, and transferred the pending case to a magistrate court in Rae Bareli. “There shall be no transfer of the judge conducting the trial until the trial concludes,” the court had said, among other things.
Around two months after the Supreme Court’s order, the Allahabad High court in June 2018, appointed him district and sessions judge, Badaun. However, the same day, the high court issued another notification, cancelling the transfer on promotion till further orders referring to the Supreme Court order.
Yadav had then pleaded in the apex court that he enjoyed an unblemished career of 28 years but was now approaching superannuation. He said even as his batch-mates and juniors had been already appointed district judges. After admitting the judge’s plea, the apex court also issued a notice to the state government. Yadav is due to retire on September 30, 2019.
Other judges transferred on Sunday included Ajay Kumar Srivastava-I, who was district and sessions judge, Saharanpur. He has been appointed district and sessions judge, Agra, Rajeev Sharma, district and sessions judge, Kasganj, has been sent to Saharanpur in the same capacity. Naveen Srivastava, district and sessions judge, Mirzapur has been posted district and sessions judge, Aligarh.
