ADVERTISEMENT

Delhi High Court Bar Opposes Transfer Of Justice Muralidhar, Calls Strike

The bar association of Delhi High Court has called a strike on Thursday opposing the transfer of Justice Muralidhar.

A gavel sits on a stage. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)
A gavel sits on a stage. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)

The bar association of the Delhi High Court has called a strike on Thursday opposing the transfer of one of the judges.

The Supreme Court Collegium transferred Justice Dr. S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, according to an order uploaded on the top court’s website. Soon after, the bar association issued a statement urging the collegium led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde to revisit its decision.

“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,” the Delhi High Court bar said. They also impede “free and fair delivery of justice by the Hon’ble bench”, it said.

Former Additional Solicitor General AS Chandiok, who practices in the Delhi High Court, told BloombergQuint that Justice Muralidhar is “a star judge” and the Supreme Court has let him down by not disclosing the reasons behind the transfer. “The judges of the High Court are constitutional positions. It’s not a judicial service,” he said. “If the Supreme Court doesn’t give them respect, then who will?”

“Collegium cannot today pass orders of transfer of judges without telling the reason for such transfers,” he said. “I’m only requesting the Supreme Court that it’s time for transparency in collegium’s decisions.”

Justice Muralidhar, appointed to the Delhi High Court in 2006, was part of the bench that decriminalised homosexuality for the first time in India in 2009. The protest against his transfer comes months after of a similar controversy in September last year when the collegium transferred Chief Justice VK Tahilramani of the Madras High Court to Meghalaya High Court as its Chief Justice. Justice Tahilramani resigned soon after.

In another case, the Gujarat High Court Bar Association filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking implementation of the collegium’s recommendation for the transfer of High Court judge Justice Akil Kureshi. He was transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court as its Chief Justice but the government returned the file for reconsideration. Subsequently, Justice Kureshi was sent to Tripura High Court where he is serving as its Chief Justice.

At that time, Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Madan Lokur had raised questions on the manner of functioning of the collegium. “The mystery behind the change in the appointment of the chief justice from one high court to another will need a Sherlock Holmes to unravel,” The Economic Times had reported quoting him as saying. “Why the secrecy? Transparency does not end with putting up resolutions of the collegium on the website, or not putting them up or taking them down — it begins from here.’’

The collegium had earlier said the transfer of judges was “made for cogent reasons after complying with the required procedure in the interest of better administration of justice”.

Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, too, urged the top court to explain the transfer of Justice Muralidhar.

“Nobody knows why he’s transferred, what’s the reason for transferring. Is the reason that there’s a shortage of judges in Punjab and Haryana High Court or are there too many judges in the Delhi High Court?” Datar asked. “We need some consistent policy on transfers.”

Apart from Justice Muralidhar, the collegium today also transferred Justice Ranjit More of the Bombay High Court to Meghalaya High Court; and Justice RV Malimath of Karnataka High Court to Uttarakhand High Court.