Newsroom, December 07, 2025: Justice S. Muralidhar, who retired as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court in 2023, embodied a judiciary that puts people first. He started his career in Chennai in the 1980s, then built a practice from a van outside Delhi's Supreme Court. As a pro bono advocate, he fought for Bhopal gas victims, Narmada displacees, and death row inmates.
Elevated to the Delhi High Court, he ditched formal titles like "Mi Lord" and focused on fair play. Key rulings include decriminalizing homosexuality in 2009 with Justice A.P. Shah, and holding 16 police personnel guilty in the Hashimpura case after 31 years, calling it a slaughter of Muslim civilians under state watch. A midnight transfer followed his 2020 push against hate speech and riot inaction, but he quipped it couldn't erase his Delhi judge title.
