Former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court, Justice S. Muralidhar, has been designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court. His term as Chief Justice of Odisha High Court concluded on August 7, 2023. According to sources within the court, the decision was made during a full court meeting of Supreme Court judges on October 16th.
Justice S. Muralidhar, born on August 8, 1961, commenced his legal career by becoming a registered advocate on September 12, 1984. He initially practiced in Chennai’s courts before relocating to Delhi. Now shifting our focus to his 17 year long eminent career as a judge, He was initially appointed as a judge of Delhi High Court in may 2006 and was later transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 2020. Justice Muralidhar served as a judge at the Delhi High Court for 14 years before a controversial transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court through a midnight order, which garnered criticism from legal professionals, former judges, civil society advocates, and the media. This followed his controversial observations regarding the Delhi police’s response to the 2020 Delhi riots, a bench led by Justice Muralidhar held an urgent hearing on February 26, 2020. During this hearing, they ordered the police to guarantee the safe transportation of those injured in the riots to GTB hospital for medical care, considering the severity of their injuries.
While being the chief justice of Odisha high court, on September 17, 2022, Justice S. Muralidhar spearheaded the launch of Paperless Courts, an innovative initiative spanning all 30 districts of Odisha. This initiative aimed to simplify court procedures and embrace a more environment friendly approach to legal proceedings. Under his visionary leadership, 20 virtual courts were established in the state, heralding the introduction of e-filing and web portal concepts.
At the Delhi high court, He was part of the bench which had, in 2009, decriminalized homosexuality by striking down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This judgment was later overruled by the Supreme Court in 2013 before the top court eventually struck down the provision in September 2018 in another case.
As Justice S. Muralidhar’s career in judgeship comes to an end, he leaves behind a rich legacy of decisions that clearly demonstrate his thorough and precise implementation of legal principles on the facts of each case, all in the pursuit of delivering justice to the aggrieved. He has frequently shed light on the uncomfortable reality that legal structures often perpetuate discrimination against the less privileged, revealing a system that operates with inequality between the rich and the poor.
