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A formal notice has been submitted against Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, backed by signatures from 50 Members of Parliament, signaling serious allegations and a potential judicial inquiry.
The impeachment notice against Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav—submitted by 54 Rajya Sabha MPs over a controversial speech he delivered at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad event last year—has been confirmed to have the support of at least 50 MPs, meeting the minimum requirement to proceed, according to The Indian Express.
According to Rajya Sabha sources, only 44 MPs have so far verified their signatures after the Secretariat reached out via emails and phone calls in March and May. Of the remaining 10, six MPs confirmed to The Indian Express that they had indeed signed the notice. Three could not be contacted, while AAP’s Sanjeev Arora said he was occupied with the Ludhiana West by-elections.
Sources indicated that Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar has not rejected the notice, as the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 does not prescribe a specific timeframe for acting on such submissions.
As per the Act, a motion to impeach a judge requires the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha or 100 in the Lok Sabha.
In December last year, 54 MPs submitted such a notice. By 5 p.m. on May 23, 43 of them had confirmed their signatures through emails or phone calls to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, The Indian Express has learned. Of the remaining 11 MPs, at least two told The Indian Express that they had verified their signatures over the phone. Rajya Sabha sources confirmed on Monday that one of them, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, has since verified his signature.
As of May 23, the following MPs had not authenticated their signatures: Kapil Sibal, P. Chidambaram, Sushmita Dev, Sanjeev Arora, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Jose K. Mani, Faiyaz Ahmed, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, G.C. Chandrasekhar, Raghav Chadha, and N.R. Elango.
When contacted, Sibal said, “I met the Chairman several times, but he never asked me about the signatures. I have no idea which email ID they used to send the communication. I personally handed over the notice to him with the signatures.”
He added that if the Chairman is unable to verify the signatures, he should formally reject the notice. “That way, we can approach the Supreme Court,” he said.
Chidambaram confirmed that he had signed the notice but denied receiving any communication from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat regarding verification.
G C Chandrasekhar of the Congress stated that he had already completed the verification over the phone. Bhubaneshwar Kalita, an Independent MP from Assam, also confirmed to The Indian Express that he had verified his signature. “I received a call around 15–20 days ago asking if I had signed, and I confirmed it,” he said.
Kerala Congress MP Jose K. Mani confirmed he had signed the notice and said he would verify it shortly. CPI(M) MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya asserted, “There is no question about my signature on the notice. I will be writing soon to verify it.”
TMC’s Sushmita Dev also confirmed her signature, stating she had signed the notice along with other MPs.
Meanwhile, AAP’s Sanjeev Arora cited his involvement in the Ludhiana West by-elections as the reason for his delay in responding. Fellow AAP MP Raghav Chadha is said to have requested a meeting with the Chairman in response to emails from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking signature verification. Chadha was unavailable for comment.
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On December 13, Opposition MPs submitted a notice backed by 55 signatures, with Kapil Sibal, Vivek Tankha, and K.T.S. Tulsi formally handing it over. Both Sibal and Tankha were among the signatories. However, according to sources in the Rajya Sabha, the secretariat detected discrepancies in nine of the signatures when compared with official records. Notably, MP Sarfaraz Ahmed’s signature appeared twice on the notice. He reportedly informed the secretariat that he had only signed once. As a result, the verified number of valid signatures was revised to 54, prompting a full verification of all signatures.
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat sent emails on March 7, March 13, and May 1, requesting the MPs to meet the Chairman regarding the notice. The MPs were also asked to bring authenticated copies of the relevant documents. The March 7 email specifically urged them to “make it convenient to have an interaction with the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Out of the 54 MPs, 29 verified their signatures after meeting with the Chairman. Subsequently, on May 23, the Secretariat contacted the remaining MPs, and 14 more confirmed their signatures. According to sources, 11 MPs could not be reached by phone that day.
The MPs were also asked to authenticate the documents they had attached to their notice, which included news articles, legal reports, and YouTube videos. An email sent to them in March stated: “These documents may kindly be brought along, duly authenticated.” The message emphasized the importance of this step, as the MPs had cited these materials to support their claim that Justice Yadav had made “outrageous” remarks.
On February 13, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar informed the Upper House that he had received “55 purported signatures” supporting a motion for the removal of Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court under Article 124(4) of the Constitution.
He stated that the authority to deal with such matters lies solely with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and, subsequently, with Parliament and the Hon’ble President. Rajya Sabha Secretary General P.C. Mody communicated these remarks to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court on February 17 for their information.
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