SC grants senior designation to former Chief Justice of Orissa HC Justice S Muralidhar
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has designated former Orissa High Court chief justice S Muralidhar as senior advocate of the apex court.
The decision was taken in a full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges on October 16, court 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 as the chief justice of the Orissa High Court on August 7. He also served as a judge of the high courts of Delhi and Punjab and Haryana.
Born on August 8, 1961, Justice Muralidhar was enrolled as an advocate on September 12, 1984, practised law in courts in Chennai, and later shifted to Delhi.
He was initially appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court in May 2006 and was later transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 6, 2020.
A controversy had erupted when the central government issued the notification for his transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court close to midnight on February 26, 2020, the day a bench headed by him pulled up Delhi police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to communal strife in northeast Delhi.
Justice Muralidhar, however, cleared the air over the controversy, saying he had replied to the then Chief Justice of India S A Bobde's communication about whether he was fine with the proposal. He said he told Justice Bobde he had no objection to his transfer.
Justice Muralidhar took oath as the chief justice of the Orissa High Court on January 4, 2021.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
