The Delhi High Court Bar Association on Wednesday decided to abstain from work on Thursday after expressing its shock, dismay and outrage on transfer of Justice S Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
In an urgent meeting held on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court Bar Association “condemned” the transfer in “unequivocally and strongest possible terms”, saying such transfers were detrimental to the institution and tend to erode and dislodge the faith of common litigants in the justice dispensation system. It asked the Supreme Court Collegium to revisit and recall its decision.
The development came after the Supreme Court's Collegium decision of February 12 to transfer three judges, including Justice Ravi Malimath from Karnataka High Court to Uttarakhand High Court, was made public. Justice Ranjit V More, a Bombay HC judge was also recommended for transfer to Meghalaya HC.
In a tweet, activist-advocate Prashant Bhushan said Justice Muralidhar was “one of the finest, upright and independent judges” of the Delhi HC. “He was perceived to be a thorn in the govt's flesh who refused to toe the govt's line,” he said.
Justice Muralidhar was appointed a judge of the Delhi High Court in May 2006.
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