New Delhi: A row erupted Thursday over the timing of the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice S Muralidhar, who had slammed the police for not registering a case against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches. The Congress said the ‘midnight’ notification was ‘shameful’ and the Centre accused the opposition party of politicising a ‘routine’ shift.
The Union Law Ministry issued Wednesday night three separate notifications for the transfer of Justice Muralidhar and two other judges – Justice Ranjit Vasantrao More of the Bombay High Court and Justice Ravi Vijay Kumar Malimath of the Karnataka High Court. Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The notifications said President Ram Nath Kovind approved the transfers after consulting the Chief Justice of India.
They came on a day when a bench headed by Justice Muralidhar, the third senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court, expressed ‘anguish’ over Delhi Police’s failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by BJP leaders Parvesh Verma, Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur in connection with the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Justice Muralidhar was transferred on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium. He informed that a ‘well-settled process’ was followed in the transfer.
At the BJP party briefing, senior leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the transfer was in line with the recommendation of the Collegium. The recommendation was made February 12.
The Congress on the other hand alleged that the transfer of Justice Muralidhar was aimed at saving some BJP leaders in the Delhi violence case and exposed the government’s ‘intimidation and vendetta politics’ against the judiciary.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the government of making attempts to ‘muzzle’ justice and ‘break people’s faith in an upright judiciary’.
“The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn’t shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad and shameful,” tweeted Priyanka.
Taking a dig at the government over what he called Muralidhar’s ‘sudden’ transfer, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Remembering the brave Judge Loya, who wasn’t transferred.”
Special CBI judge BH Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, died in alleged mysterious circumstances on December 1, 2014.
Hitting back at the Congress over the allegations, Prasad said, “By politicising a routine transfer, Congress has yet again displayed its scant regard for the judiciary. Transfer of Hon’ble Justice Muralidhar was done pursuant to the recommendation dated February 12 of the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India.” He also said a judge’s consent is taken before transferring him or her.
Referring to the tweet by Rahul, the Union Minister said the Loya judgement had been well-settled by the Supreme Court.
“Those raising questions do not respect the judgment of the apex court pronounced after elaborate arguments. Does Rahul Gandhi consider himself above even the Supreme Court,” Prasad asked.
The CPI(M) said Justice Muralidhar’s transfer was a ‘selective response’ to his court order. The Left party demanded the government keep the transfer order in abeyance to reinforce the confidence of the people in the judicial system.
PTI