Bar assn expresses shock over Justice Muralidhar's transfer from Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court Bar Association expressed shock on Wednesday over the transfer of Justice S Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and said lawyers will abstain from work on Thursday as a mark of protest.

The bar association condemned the decision to transfer Justice Muralidhar and said such transfers were detrimental to the institution and also dislodged the faith of litigants in the justice dispensation system.

"The Delhi High Court Bar Association also resolves to request its members to abstain from work tomorrow, February 20, 2020, as a token of protest as the said transfer is a rarest of rare case, the majesty of our revered institution is at stake," a resolution adopted by the bar association said.

In an emergent executive committee meeting held in the afternoon, the bar association hoped that the Supreme Court Collegium would recall the transfer of Justice Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

"Unequivocally and in the strongest possible terms, the Delhi High Court Bar Association condemns the said transfers.

"Such transfers are not only detrimental to our noble institution but also tend to erode and dislodge the faith of the common litigant in the justice dispensation system. Such transfers also impede free and fair delivery of justice by the bench," the resolution read.

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

He was active as a lawyer for the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and 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 dams on the Narmada river.