The New Indian Express ·
‘I’d rather die than be called a coward judge’: Muzaffarnagar Judge after cases recalled
LUCKNOW:Expressing dismay over the alleged recall of cases from his court after he awarded 22 death penalties within a span of four months, with the 23rd on September 7, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Muzaffarnagar, Ravi Kumar Diwakar claimed that serious cases were recalled from his court to benefit mafia and criminals, as he said that he was "deeply hurt and saddened" by the conduct.
He added that he would rather choose to die than be called a "coward judge". The observations came in a judgment in which Judge Diwakar awarded the death penalty to convict Nadeem for deliberately burning his wife (Shahzadi) alive. The court held that the manner in which Nadeem killed his wife was "extremely brutal and barbaric" and fell within the "rarest of rare" category.
The court further observed that the killing was not merely a deprivation of life but an act that seriously violated the victim's human dignity. Judge Diwakar ultimately found the case to fall in the category of ‘Rarest of Rare’, and accordingly, he awarded the accused the death penalty under Section 302 IPC, along with a ₹1 lakh fine.