Archive · 20 Aug 2026
UP Court Transfers 100 Cases After Judge’s 22 Death Sentences
A judge in Uttar Pradesh sentenced 22 people to death in four months.
After that, about 100 serious murder cases were moved to another judge.
The cases were transferred from Ravi Kumar Diwakar’s fast-track court in Muzaffarnagar.
They will now be heard by District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh.
The cases involve crimes that can lead to a death sentence or life in prison.
A local lawyers’ group said some lawyers and people involved in the cases worried that death sentences might be given.
Judge Diwakar became well known in 2022 after ordering a video survey of the Gyanvapi complex.
He had also made remarks about Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that were later removed from a court order by the Allahabad High Court.
Around 100 murder cases were transferred from Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar’s fast-track court in Muzaffarnagar.
The cases involve offences punishable by death or life imprisonment and were moved to District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh.
Diwakar sentenced 22 convicts to death during the previous four months, according to the report.
District Bar Association president Pramod Tyagi said lawyers and litigants were concerned about possible death sentences.
Diwakar, appointed as a civil judge in 2009, previously gained attention for ordering a videography survey of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi complex.
- Who
- Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh, lawyers and litigants, and convicts in the cases.
- What
- Around 100 murder cases were transferred from Diwakar’s fast-track court after he issued 22 death sentences in four months.
- When
- The 22 death sentences were issued during the four months before the transfers; Diwakar has served in Muzaffarnagar since November 2025.
- Where
- Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
- Why
- The cases were transferred after concerns were expressed by lawyers and litigants about the possibility of death sentences; the report does not state a separate official reason.
Concerns About Sentencing
Judicial Case Transfer
Reason for transfer
Concerns About Sentencing
District Bar Association president Pramod Tyagi said lawyers and litigants were concerned about the possibility that the court might award death sentences.
Judicial Case Transfer
The cases were transferred to District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh after Diwakar sentenced 22 convicts to death, but the report does not quote an official explanation beyond the transfer itself.
Judge’s record
Concerns About Sentencing
The high number of death sentences in four months prompted concerns among some lawyers and litigants handling serious criminal cases.
Judicial Case Transfer
The article identifies the sentences as judicial decisions and notes Diwakar’s history of delivering stringent judgments, without stating that any sentence was overturned.
- Cases transferred
- Around 100 murder cases
- New court
- District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh’s court
- Death sentences
- 22 convicts sentenced to death in four months
- Judge
- Ravi Kumar Diwakar
- Current posting
- Additional district and sessions judge in Muzaffarnagar since November 2025
- Legal career
- Appointed as a civil judge in 2009
- Education
- BCom and LLM degrees
- Earlier spotlight
- Ordered a videography survey of the Gyanvapi complex in 2022