UP Judge Who Had Lain Down Before A Bulldozer To 'Protect' His Land Suspended By Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has suspended the Additional District Judge I (ADJ), Sultanpur District Court Manoj Shukla. ADJ Shukla was recently in news for an act wherein he had lain down before a JCB/bulldozer last month in an attempt to protect his ancestral land in Basti district which was being taken over by the state government.

ADJ Manoj Shukla is originally a resident of the Chhapia Shukla village of Basti district. He is presently serving as an ADJ in the Sultanpur district. Last month, he had lain in front of a JCB wearing a coat, pants, and a tie, the video of the incident had gone viral on social media as well.

Regarding this incident, the District Magistrate of Basti had sent a report to the government and after receiving the same, the government had also forwarded it to the High Court. 

The decision to suspend him has been taken by the High Court Administrative Committee and an order to this effect has already been dispatched to the Sultanpur District Court. As per the information available about ADJ Shukla on the website of the High Court state, he is "Presently suspended since 03-04-2022 (Attached to HQ- Sonbhadra)".

As per a report of Aaj Tak, ADJ Manoj Shukla had lain down in front of the district administration team for the whole night without eating or drinking and he had reportedly made the following statement:

"I am a judicial officer, this is my ancestral land which is being encroached upon by others and this is wrong. The acquisition of land in the year 2013 was against the rules and the order given by the District Magistrate is corrupt."

The National President of the Samajwadi Party and the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, Akhilesh Yadav had also tweeted about this incident on March 25.