New Delhi: With the Supreme Court designating him as a senior advocate, former Orissa High Court Chief Justice Dr S Muralidhar, who recently retired from service, will now practice law in the apex court.
The decision was taken in a full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges on October 16, sources said.
Under Article 220 of the Constitution, a former high court judge can practise as a lawyer only in the Supreme Court or high courts, where they have not served as a judge.
Justice Muralidhar retired on August 7 after serving as the 32nd Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court for over two years and seven months. He also served as a judge of the high courts of Delhi and Punjab and Haryana.
Born on August 8, 1961, Justice Muralidhar enrolled as an advocate on September 12, 1984, practised law in courts in Chennai, and later shifted to Delhi. He was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court in May 2006. He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 6, 2020, shortly after a bench headed by him slammed Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders, which purportedly led to communal strife in northeast Delhi.
Justice Muralidhar took oath as the chief justice of the Orissa High Court on January 4, 2021.