EXCLUSIVE: “Want to leave with an image of me smiling & laughing” says Justice Muralidhar

Walking into his spacious bungalow on Lodhi Road, laughter can be heard from Justice Dr S. Muralidhar’s living room right up till his main gate. There is a small line of cars parked outside the gate, all belonging to the people hoping to meet the popular judge days before he sets off for Chandigarh.

The loudest laughter comes from the man himself, who the entire country has been talking about for the past 24-hours. Even with tension brewing in many parts of the city, Justice Muralidhar’s house has a warm, welcoming feel to it. I would’ve thought I was almost interrupting a close get-together of family and friends if I didn’t know any better. As I wait in the veranda, Justice Muralidhar walks out escorting his guests who continue to thank him for his time in the Delhi High Court with big smiles and enthusiastic, seemingly grateful handshakes. Every guest is personally escorted by the judge till the door.

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It’s easy to understand why Justice Muralidhar is as popular as he is amongst anyone who has had a chance to encounter him, inside or outside the courtroom. At 58 years of age, Justice Muralidhar has served the Delhi High Court for just under fourteen years. He began his law practice in Chennai in 1984 and soon moved his practice to the national capital. By 1987, he was a regular in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He was elevated from the Bar to the Bench on May 29, 2006, when he took oath as a judge of the Delhi High Court.

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There will be several things that Justice Muralidhar will be remembered for during his tenure in the Delhi High Court, but the most striking memory of him, for me, will be of how he never held back from voicing his thoughts during a hearing. “Come back to me in three and a half years,” he says laughing when I ask him what he thinks of all that has happened in the past 24-hours.

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The President, last evening, notified the transfer of Justice Muralidhar hours after a firecracker of a hearing in the Delhi High Court over the issue of registration of FIRs resulting out of the ongoing riots in North East Delhi. The last official working day for Justice Muralidhar will be March 5 when a full-court reference will be held for the judge in the Chief Justice’s Court of the Delhi High Court. On March 6, Justice Muralidhar will take oath as the second senior-most judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Muralidhar’s tenure has been a memorable one. But he wants to “leave with an image of him smiling and laughing,” he says with a big grin. His staff standing around us can’t help but smile themselves even as they, along with the Delhi High Court, prepare to bid his lordship adieu.

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