New Delhi, 10 Dec

Taking a judicial note, the Supreme Court on Tuesday called for details from the Allahabad High Court after taking note of news reports of the speech of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting high court judge, delivered at a VHP function.

While taking cognisance of Justice Yadav's reported speech, the Allahabad High Court was directed to furnish details over the matter.

"The Supreme Court has taken note of the newspaper reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The details and particulars have been called from the High Court and the matter is under consideration (sic),” an official statement said.

The main aim of the uniform civil code is to promote social harmony, gender equality and secularism, the judge had said at a VHP function.

The judge made the remarks on December 8 while addressing a provincial convention of the legal cell and high court unit of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in Allahabad High Court.

A day later, videos of the judge speaking on provocative issues, including the law working according to the majority, were circulated widely, triggering strong reactions from various opposition parties which questioned his reported statements and labelled it as hate speech.