97 Murder, Heinous Crime Cases Moved From Muzaffarnagar Judge After 22 Death Sentences In 4 Months

Nearly 100 pending criminal cases, including murder cases involving offences punishable with death or life imprisonment, have been withdrawn from the court of Muzaffarnagar Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar and transferred to the court of District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh, days after Diwakar’s court awarded death sentences to 22 convicts in 10 cases over four months.

According to reports, 97 pending case files have been recalled from Diwakar’s fast-track court under an administrative order issued by District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh. The cases have now been placed before the district and sessions judge for disposal in accordance with law.

The move comes against the backdrop of a series of capital punishment verdicts delivered by Diwakar since April. His court sentenced 22 people to death in 10 separate cases involving murders committed between 1999 and 2019. The development has attracted attention because of the unusually high number of death sentences delivered by a single trial court within a short period.

The transfer, however, does not by itself amount to a finding of misconduct against the judge. Reports quoting officials and local lawyers indicate that the cases were administratively recalled, while the district judiciary has not publicly stated that the death sentences were the formal reason for the transfer. Muzaffarnagar District Bar Association president Pramod Tyagi said that the transfer of cases was a routine administrative exercise, although lawyers and litigants had apprehensions following the string of death penalty orders.

22 death sentences since April

Diwakar’s court began handing down the recent series of death sentences on April 6, when three accused were sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of lawyer Mohammad Sameer in a 2019 case. The prosecution had alleged that Sameer was abducted over a monetary dispute involving Rs 45 lakh before being killed and his body disposed of in a forest area.

On April 28, a woman and her three sons were sentenced to death in another murder case dating to 2019.

The court subsequently awarded the death penalty to a 50-year-old man on May 30 for the 2011 murder of Rajesh Devi and her six-year-old son Himanshu. The prosecution case was that the woman and child were taken to a sugarcane field and killed by repeated blows with bricks.

On June 20, two convicts were sentenced to death in the murder of Rajendra Saini. On July 2, the court awarded capital punishment to Deepak for killing home guard Ratiram, who was on duty when he intervened after the accused allegedly assaulted his mother.

On July 6, former village head Pramod and his associate Sahdev were sentenced to death for the 2010 murder of 60-year-old Rajbir Singh, with the court treating the case as falling within the “rarest of rare” category.

Four men were sentenced to death on July 17 for the 2011 murder of farmer Raj Singh during an attempted robbery in Shamli.

The sequence continued in August. On August 12, Shahnawaz was sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering wood trader Saleem for ransom in a case dating back to 1999. The prosecution alleged that Saleem had been kidnapped after a ransom demand of Rs 5 lakh and later killed by having his throat slit.

On August 13, four men, Ramvir, Rajiv, Rahul and Harender Kumar, were sentenced to death for the 2014 murder of Pawan Kumar in Shamli. The prosecution alleged that the accused entered Pawan Kumar’s house and opened fire following an old dispute. Pawan Kumar was killed and his brother Ashok Kumar was injured. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.70 lakh on the four convicts.

Judge earlier in spotlight over Gyanvapi survey

Diwakar, who has been posted in Muzaffarnagar since November 2025, had earlier come into the national spotlight in 2022 while serving as a civil judge in Varanasi.

As the judge hearing the Gyanvapi-related proceedings, he ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi complex. The order became a major development in the dispute surrounding the complex and subsequently drew intense national attention.

Diwakar began his judicial career as an additional civil judge in Azamgarh in 2009 and has since served in several districts, including Sultanpur, Budaun, Varanasi, Bareilly and Chitrakoot, before being posted as an additional district and sessions judge in Muzaffarnagar.

The latest transfer involves cases that were still pending before his court and is distinct from the 10 cases in which death sentences have already been pronounced.

Importantly, the 22 death sentences are not immediately executable. A death sentence imposed by a sessions court must be confirmed by the concerned high court before it can be carried out.

The administrative movement of the 97 cases therefore leaves the death penalty verdicts already delivered by Diwakar unaffected at this stage, while the pending murder and other serious criminal trials will now proceed before the district and sessions judge.

[Inputs: PTI]