Delhi High Court judge Justice S Muralidhar, who was hearing the cases related to violence in north-east Delhi, was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court late on Wednesday. It may be noted that it was a routine transfer as the Supreme Court Collegium had already recommended it on February 12.

On Wednesday, a government notification was issued stating that after consultation with Chief Justice SA Bobde, President Ram Nath Kovind transferred Justice S Muralidhar, judge of Delhi High Court, as Judge of Punjab and Haryana High court.

A meeting was held on February 12 in which the apex court collegium had recommended the transfer.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) expressed shock over the development and passed a resolution unanimously regarding this. Condemning the transfer, the Bar Association said, "Such transfers are not only detrimental to our noble Institution but also tend to erode and dislodge the faith of the common litigant in the justice dispensation system. The Delhi High Court Bar Association had requested for the revisit of the issue and to recall the move to transfer Muralidhar."

"It is a rarest of rare case, the majesty of our revered institution is at stake," the council added, which also abstained from work last week in protest against the transfer.

On Wednesday, a division bench comprising Justice Muralidhar and Justice Talwant Singh came down heavily on the central government for the incidents of unrelenting violence in the national capital. Surprised at the conduct of the police in handling the situation, the bench asked why an FIR has still not been lodged in connection with the incident.

The Delhi High Court was hearing a petition which claimed that provocative hate speeches had been given by three prominent politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) linked to the assailants who carried out multiple brutal assaults on people protesting against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The petition further urged that a judicial inquiry takes place regarding the violent clashes that broke out between anti-CAA and pro CAA groups in northeast Delhi and an FIR be lodged against the three BJP leaders - namely, Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur, and Parvesh Verma.