Justice S Muralidhar who was transferred from Delhi High Court after he reprimanded the Delhi Police over its inaction in filing FIRs against the BJP leaders who made hate speeches which led to the Delhi violence, was on Friday was administered the oath as Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here by its Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha in the presence of a large gathering comprising jurists and lawyers.
Justice S Muralidhar’s transfer sparked a political controversy, “We are losing a most eminent judge who can discuss any topic of law and decide any type of matter”, Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel said at his farewell ceremony, on Thursday.
Earlier, on Thursday while delivering a farewell speech in the Delhi High Court in the presence of a large gathering of lawyers who had thronged the building, Justice Muralidhar had talked of the sequence of events and communique on his transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Muralidhar said, “I was informed about it (transfer) on February 17 and had no problem with it. On February 17, I had received a communication from Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, about the recommendation made by the Collegium for my transfer.”
Accepting the communication, the Judge said, he had replied that he has no objection to go to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Muralidhar was greeted with roses by a number of lawyers in the High Court auditorium during the oath-taking ceremony.
Most roads leading to the High Court complex were dotted with welcome hoardings, a rare gesture to welcome a Judge, a senior advocate pointed out. “Delhi’s loss is Punjab’s gain,” read one of the hoardings.
Delivering a farewell speech on Thursday in the Delhi High Court in the presence of a large gathering of lawyers who had thronged the building, Justice Muralidhar had talked of the sequence of events and communique on his transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Ministry of Law and Justice on February 26 notified the transfer of Justice Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The notification read, “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 followed the recommendation passed by the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of Indian S A Bobde.
It sparked a controversy as earlier in the day, a Delhi High Court bench headed by Justice Muralidhar had read the Riots Act to Delhi Police regarding the violence in the northeast parts of the national capital and said that “another 1984-like situation cannot be allowed to happen in this city” under its watch.
Justice Murlidhar took a strong stand and pulled up the Delhi police asking them to sit and watch all videos of hate speeches made in the recent past and submit a report by Thursday when it will hear the matter again.
The court has sought explanation on why there was such delay in registering FIRs in cases of hate speech.
The court also played the three speeches — including that of Kapil Mishra’s that was delivered hours before the violence — so that the Delhi Police and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who had denied watching the clips, could see them.
The communal violence in northeast Delhi, which was sparked by protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has left at least 48 people dead and over 200 injured.