BREAKING| Supreme Court Collegium Recalls Proposal To Transfer Justice Muralidhar As Madras HC CJ In View Of No Response From Centre

The Supreme Court collegium has recalled its proposal made in September 2022 to transfer Dr Justice S Muralidhar, Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, in view of the lack of response from the Central Government. The recommendation has remained pending with the Government of India since September 28, 2022 without any response, the collegium noted in its resolution.

The collegium noted that the Justice Muralidhar is due to retire in August 2023 and has less than four months of term left.

In view of this delay, the resolution recommending the transfer of Dr Justice S Muralidhar was recalled to facilitate the appointment of a permanent Chief Justice in the Madras High Court which has been left without a permanent Chief Justice for the last six months.

The Collegium has made the proposal to elevate Justice S V Gangapurwala, judge of the Bombay High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. The Collegium noted that it was necessary to have a permanent Chief Justice for the Madras High Court, where Justice T Raja has been officiating as the Acting Chief Justice since the retirement of the previous Chief Justice MN Bhandari on September 12, 2022.

It was on September 28, 2022, the collegium had recommended the transfer of the Orissa High Court Chief Justice S Muralidhar as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court. While the Centre approved the recommendation made in the same resolution for transfer of another Chief Justice, the proposal regarding transfer of Justice Muralidhar is kept on hold.

Justice Muralidhar began his law practice in Chennai in September 1984. He shifted to the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court in 1987. He was appointed judge of Delhi High Court in 2006. He was a part of the High Court bench that first legalized homosexuality in the 2009 Naz Foundation case. He also led the division bench that convicted members of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in the Hashimpura massacre case and Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in February 2020, amid strong opposition from Delhi Bar.  The transfer was notified soon after he directed the Delhi police to take a decision regarding registration of FIR for inflammatory speeches against politicians such as Anurag Thakur, Pravesh Verma, Abhay Verma and Kapil Mishra in relation to the 2020 Delhi riots.

Centre Splits Up Collegium Resolution, Withholds Approval For Justice Muralidhar's Transfer As Madras HC Chief Justice

In January 2021, Justice Muralidhar was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. Several initiatives launched by Chief Justice Muralidhar at the Orissa High Courts such as e-courts system and virtual access facilities have been praised by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on several occasions.

"The High Court of Orissa has creatively utilised technology to bridge the time taken to travel from other parts of Odisha to Cuttack. Indeed, other High Courts must replicate the use of technology to ensure that access to justice is provided to widely dispersed areas", the Supreme Court recently noted in a judgment.