Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, who sentenced 36 to death in fast-track courts, transferred to family court

Uttar Pradesh judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar has been transferred suddenly. He has often been in the news for his very strict verdicts in fast-track courts. He has now been moved out of the fast-track court and given charge as Additional Chief Judge in the Family Court in Muzaffarnagar. The abrupt administrative transfer has set off varied talk in judicial and political circles.

Within just 16 months, Judge Diwakar sentenced a total of 36 accused to death, which brought him into the national spotlight. While serving in the fast-track courts in Muzaffarnagar and Bareilly, he took a very hard line in serious crimes.

By the numbers, in Muzaffarnagar he sentenced 23 accused to death in 11 cases. In Bareilly, 13 accused were given the death sentence in 13 trials. Most recently, on September 7, he sentenced to death a man who had burned his own wife alive.

He had been working in Muzaffarnagar since November 2025. He has now been sent to the Family Court as per a High Court order.

Judge Diwakar first drew national attention in May 2022, when he was posted in Varanasi. He had ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, a historic order. During that survey, a claim was made that a "Shivling" had been found. After this sensitive order, he also received death threats from international numbers.

While in Muzaffarnagar, he had written to the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh expressing strong displeasure over the withdrawal of the armed personnel deployed for his security.

Judge Diwakar, 46, joined the Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service in 2009. He has studied B.Com, LL.B and LL.M. He has held key posts in Azamgarh, Sultanpur, Badaun, Varanasi, Bareilly and Chitrakoot. The sudden move to the Family Court of a judge who handed down a record number of death sentences in a short time is a much-discussed topic among legal experts.