'Vendetta' or routine? All you need to know about Justice Muralidhar's transfer to P&H HC

President Ram Nath Kovind approved the transfer of Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday night. As this happened on the day when Justice Muralidhar pulled up the Delhi police for the non-registration of FIRs against leaders giving provocative speeches allegedly leading to the violence in the national capital, the opposition has come down hard on the government. While Congress General Secretary Priyanka Vadra alleged this was the “government’s attempt to muzzle justice”, party MP Gaurav Gogoi claimed that this move was orchestrated by the Prime Minister’s Office. However, a close examination of the facts paints a different picture. 

Read: Delhi HC Bar Association Condemns Justice S Muralidhar's Transfer; To Abstain From Work

Transfer punitive in nature? 

To begin with, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the transfer of Justice Muralidhar on February 12. Subsequently, the Delhi High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work on February 20 to protest against Justice Muralidhar’s transfer. Describing him as one of the “finest” judges, the Association claimed that the SC Collegium’s move was detrimental to the institution. 

However, as per reports, the transfer was not unusual in nature as he will be second in the seniority list after current Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. As the convention is that two judges of the Delhi High Court can be appointed as the Chief Justice of other High Courts at any point in time, Justice Muralidhar stands the stance to become the Chief Justice currently. This is because Justice Gita Mittal is the only judge from the Delhi HC who is functioning as the Chief Justice. Moreover, reports suggest that Chief Justice Jha can be considered for elevation to the SC when vacancies arise in May 2020. This implies that Justice Muralidhar can become an automatic choice for the Chief Justice post in the upcoming months.  

Read: Justice Muralidhar Transferred To Punjab & Haryana High Court

The debate surrounding Harsh Mander’s plea 

Coming to the latest allegation, it is important to note that Harsh Mander’s plea was originally listed before the Chief Justice DN Patel’s court. Justice Muralidhar agreed to hear the matter only because of the unavailability of the CJ and the urgency involved. Irrespective of his transfer, the causelist published on the Delhi High Court website indicates that the matter was going to be heard by the bench headed by Chief Justice Jha only.  

Furthermore, President Kovind has also approved the transfer of Justice More and Justice Malimath on Thursday night, who were also recommended to be transferred by the SC Collegium along with Justice Muralidhar. Thus, this rules out the possibility of Justice Muralidhar being singled out by the government. Meanwhile, a lot of questions have been raised about the fact that Justice Muralidhar has not been allocated a sufficient time period to take charge as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But, all three official notifications have used identical language.

Read: SC Collegium Recommends Transfer Of Justice S Muralidhar To Punjab & Haryana HC

Read: Delhi HC Raps Police On Non-registration Of FIR, Gives Police Commissioner One Day To Act