Home India Justice Muralidhar, who ordered FIR against hate speeches, transferred to Punjab & Haryana HC

Justice Muralidhar, who ordered FIR against hate speeches, transferred to Punjab & Haryana HC

Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court following approval of a February 12 recommendation to the effect from the Supreme Court Collegium.

Justice Muralidhar. (File photo)

On the day he pulled up the Delhi Police over its inaction in filing FIRs against the BJP leaders who made hate speeches, Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court following approval of a February 12 recommendation to the effect from the Supreme Court Collegium. Read in Tamil | Bengali

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A notification from the Department of Justice in the Ministry of Law and Justice said: “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Shri Justice S Muralidhar, Judge of the Delhi High Court, as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”

The notification follows the recommendation passed by the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of Indian S A Bobde. Protesting Justice Muralidhar’s transfer, the Delhi High Court Bar Association had urged the Collegium to “revisit” and recall its recommendation, saying such transfers “tend to erode and dislodge the faith of the common litigant in the justice dispensation system”.

Known for his bold pronouncements on communal violence and personal liberty, Justice Muralidhar delivered the Hashimpura verdict, convicting personnel of the Uttar Pradesh PAC for the 1987 mass killings, and also convicted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was part of the two-judge bench along with then Chief Justice A P Shah that delivered the landmark verdict decriminalising homosexuality.

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