Lucknow: Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, who awarded 23 death sentences in six months, has been transferred to the family court in UP’s Muzaffarnagar following an order of the Allahabad High Court.
Diwakar, who was presiding over a fast-track court, has been appointed Additional Principal Judge of the family court, PTI reported.
Shiv Kumari will take over as the Additional District and Sessions Judge of the fast-track court.
Diwakar had awarded 23 death sentences in 11 cases between April and September this year.
He recently questioned the withdrawal of 97 part-heard cases involving murder and other serious offences from his court through administrative orders issued by the then-District and Sessions Judge, B K Singh, in August.
In a 35-page judgment acquitting an accused in an NDPS case which was nearly 10 years old, Diwakar questioned whether cases in which hearings had commenced could be withdrawn through administrative orders without following the procedure prescribed by law.
Diwakar also raised concerns over judicial independence and the limits of administrative powers exercised by district judges.