CJM Transferred Weeks After Ordering FIR Against UP Super Cop Anuj Chaudhary Over Sam
CJM Transferred Weeks After Ordering FIR Against UP Super Cop Anuj Chaudhary Over Sambhal Violence
M.U.H
21/01/202613
Weeks after ordering an FIR against UP Police’s influential officer Anuj Chaudhary over the Sambhal violence, Chief Judicial Magistrate Vibhanshu Sudhir has been transferred out of the district, with the Allahabad High Court announcing a major reshuffle of judicial officers on Tuesday evening.
The High Court ordered the transfer of 14 judicial officers, including three from the district judge cadre. The transfer list was issued by Registrar (Judicial Services) Rajneesh Kumar and covers postings across Kannauj, Gonda, Sitapur, Sambhal, and Sultanpur.
Among the most closely watched transfers is that of Vibhanshu Sudhir, who was serving as Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sambhal. He has now been posted as Civil Judge (Senior Division), Sultanpur. His transfer has drawn attention due to a series of orders in which he directed criminal proceedings against police officers in sensitive cases.
FIR Order Against Police Officers
On January 9, CJM Vibhanshu Sudhir had ordered the registration of an FIR against ASP Anuj Chaudhary and 20 other police personnel, following a complaint alleging illegal police firing during violence in Sambhal in November 2024.
The complaint was filed by Yameen, a resident of Khaggu Sarai Anjuman in the Nakhasa police station area. In his petition, Yameen alleged that his 24-year-old son, Alam, was shot by the police on November 24, 2024, when he had gone out to sell rusks (toast). The incident allegedly occurred near the Shahi Jama Masjid during heightened tensions linked to a court-ordered survey.
Yameen named then CO Sambhal Anuj Chaudhary, Kotwali Inspector Anuj Tomar, and other police officials as accused. His counsel, Chaudhary Akhtar Hussain, told the court that the victim had undergone treatment while remaining in hiding due to fear, and sought registration of an FIR against the officers involved.
After hearing the matter, the CJM directed that an FIR be registered against all the accused police officials.
Following the order, SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi had stated that a judicial inquiry into the violence had already been conducted, and asserted that the police would challenge the court’s direction in appeal. He had maintained that, in view of the inquiry, the FIR would not be registered.
The violence in Sambhal erupted during a court-mandated survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, following claims by the Hindu side that the mosque was built after demolishing an ancient Harihar Temple during the Mughal era.
On November 19, 2024, a civil court appointed advocate Ramesh Singh Raghav as commissioner to conduct the survey. The first phase began the same evening but remained incomplete. On November 24, when the survey team returned, large crowds gathered near the mosque, leading to stone-pelting and clashes with the police.
During the violence, four people were killed by gunshot injuries, while SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi, then CO Anuj Chaudhary, a deputy collector, and 29 police personnel were injured.
Subsequently, police arrested 79 accused, including three women, and registered 12 FIRs at Sambhal Kotwali and Nakhasa police stations.
Police booked 40 named accused, including Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq, and 2,750 unidentified persons. On June 18, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed a 1,128-page chargesheet against 23 accused, including the MP. However, Suhail Iqbal, son of SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood, was not named in the chargesheet.
Earlier FIR Orders by CJM
This was not the first instance where CJM Vibhanshu Sudhir ordered action against police personnel. On December 24, 2025, he directed registration of an FIR against 13 police officers, including then Inspector Pankaj Lavania, in an alleged fake encounter case dating back to July 7, 2022, under Bahjoi police station limits.
In that order, the court instructed the station house officer to register the case immediately and submit a compliance report within three days.
Vibhanshu Sudhir joined the judicial service in 2013 as an Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Sultanpur. He later served in Musafirkhana (Sultanpur), Etah, Moradabad, Chandauli, and Ghaziabad, before being appointed Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sambhal (Chandausi) in September 2025.
New CJM in Sambhal
Following the transfer, Aditya Singh, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Chandausi, has been appointed as the new Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sambhal. Notably, he had earlier ordered the controversial survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid and has now been promoted with the new posting.
