Centre notifies transfer of Delhi HC Judge Justice S Muralidhar to the Punjab & Haryana HC

The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on Feb 12 had recommended the transfer of Delhi High court judge Justice Muralidhar, who is the third most senior judge in the Delhi High Court.  The Collegium has also recommended the transfer of the third senior-most judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Ranjit V More to the Meghalaya High Court even as the senior-most judge of the Karnataka High Court Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath has been recommended for the Uttarakhand High Court.

Yesterday, a division bench headed by him had pulled up the Delhi Police for its inaction in lodging First Information Reports (FIRs) against Bhartiya Janta Party leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Sahib Singh for their alleged inflammatory speeches. Justice Muralidhar had ordered that the Delhi Police Commissioner would view all the videos, not limited to the vides played by the court but any other vides that might be provided to them which they perhaps already in possession of and take a conscious decision which will be communicated to the court.

In another case, a division bench comprising Justices S Muralidhar and Anup J Bhambhani yesterday had issued a slew of directions setting up of the adequate number of shelters to provide rehabilitation to displaced victims.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) had expressed its shock and condemned the transfer of Justice Muralidhar to the Punjab & Haryana High Court. DHCBA also abstained from work on February 20 as a token of protest.

Justice Muralidhar began his law practice in Chennai in September 1984 and in 1987 shifted to the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court.

He was active as a lawyer for the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and later was its member for two terms. His pro bono work included the cases for the victims of the Bhopal Gas Disaster and those displaced by the dams on the Narmada.