A group of 13 veteran lawyers on Friday wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, urging him to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a first information report against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav for his anti-Muslim remarks, Live Law reported.

The signatories to the letter include Indira Jaising, Aspi Chinoy, Navroz Seervai, Anand Grover, Chander Uday Singh, Jaideep Gupta, Mohan V Katarki, Shoeb Alam, R Vaigai, Mihir Desai, Jayant Bhushan, Gayatri Singh and Avi Singh.

They also sent copies of their letter to other senior Supreme Court judges BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and AS Oka.

Speaking at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad event on December 8, Yadav said that India would be run as per the wishes of its Hindu majority. He also uttered a communal slur used for Muslims who have been circumcised and described the community as “harmful to the country”.

“They are the kind of people who do not want the country to progress and we need to be cautious of them,” Yadav, a sitting High Court judge, said. He added that India would soon adopt a Uniform Civil Code – a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens.

The remarks by Yadav had led to demands for his impeachment, with some critics calling for his judicial work to be suspended.

The letter written by the lawyers said that, “ostensibly, Justice Yadav was commenting on the Uniform Civil Code, but the entire speech seemed like a cover for spreading hate speech” on a public platform. “There was nothing academic, legal, or juristic about the contents of the speech,” Bar and Bench quoted the lawyers as having said.

They added: “This blatantly divisive rhetoric disregards judicial impartiality, with the judge openly aligning himself with one religious community while painting the other in a deeply derogatory light.”

The lawyers further contended that the speech, besides hurting the religious feelings of Muslims, also promoted enmity between different groups on religious grounds.

“The contents of his speech, recorded and widely disseminated, have been characterised as hate speech, containing remarks that appear unconstitutional and contrary to the oath of office taken by a judge,” the letter stated.

The Supreme Court has already taken cognisance of Yadav’s comments and sought a report from the Allahabad High Court about the matter.

Yadav had on December 17 appeared before the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Khanna. The Collegium had sought an explanation for his remarks, The Indian Express reported. Khanna had also informed the full Supreme Court about the matter.

However, Yadav did not submit an apology or an explanation, according to the newspaper, prompting the chief justice of India to ask the Allahabad High Court to file a fresh report about the matter, the newspaper reported.

Besides the Supreme Court, 55 Opposition MPs filed a notice in the Rajya Sabha calling for his impeachment. The 21-page motion, initiated by Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, said that the judge’s speech “prima facie [showed] evidence [that he] has targeted minorities and displayed bias and prejudice against minorities”.

Scroll looked at several of his orders over the last three-and-a-half years and found that Yadav has a pattern of referring to Hindutva talking points.

In his judgements, Yadav has suggested that the state should honour the cow as well as Hindu gods, referred to conspiracy theories about religious conversions and accused people of making false complaints under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Also read: HC judge who gave communal speech at VHP event has frequently referenced Hindutva in his judgements