PRAYAGRAJ: Allahabad high court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav, whose speech at a VHP event in Dec kicked up a controversy, has expressed his inability to attend a seminar on the Ram temple movement scheduled in the Kumbh Mela area on Jan 22.
An organiser said Justice Yadav, who had to deliver the keynote address at the seminar, expressed his inability to attend the seminar — Rashtriya Sangoshthi: Ram Mandir Aandolan aur Gorakshpeeth — since Jan 22 will be a working day in the high court.
Seminar convenor Shashi Prakash Singh said, “Some members of the organising committee had taken consent from Justice Shekhar Yadav to attend this programme. However, since the seminar is a working day, he has expressed his inability to attend it and has informed the organising committee about it.”
Singh said the seminar is being held to mark the first anniversary of the consecration of Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya temple. Senior RSS pracharak Ashok Bery and senior VHP functionary Bade Dinesh Ji Singh will also address the seminar.
Addressing a Vishva Hindu Parishad event on Dec 8, Justice Yadav had termed the Uniform Civil Code a Hindu versus Muslim debate, where the former had brought in reforms while the latter had not.
The following day, there was an uproar over his remarks, even in Parliament.
Justice Yadav, who was summoned by Supreme Court collegium last month over his remarks, has told Chief Justice of the HC that he stands by his remarks on the occasion and that he did not violate any principle of judicial conduct.
