Justice S Muralidhar asks lawyers to avoid ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Lordship’ while addressing him

A few years ago, the High Court Bar Association had asked its members to prefer addressing Judges as “Sir” or “Your Honour”, though many lawyers continue to use terms such as “Your Lordship” to address them.

Justice S Muralidhar, who took oath as judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier this month, has requested lawyers to avoid using terms such as “My Lord” or “Your Lordship” while addressing him.

Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court from the Delhi High Court. After the Chief Justice, Justice Muralidhar is the senior-most Judge at Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Muralidhar will also be part of the High Court collegiums, comprising Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha and Justice Rajiv Sharma.

The notification of Justice Muralidhar’s transfer from Delhi high court came late in the night of February 26, hours after he had rebuked Delhi Police for their failure to register first information reports (FIRs) against political leaders who made hate speeches that may have fuelled the communal violence that rocked Northeast Delhi.

Although his transfer was surrounded by controversy, Justice S Muralidhar had cleared the air, saying that he had informed Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Bobde that he had no objection when the CJI wrote to him about his imminent shift to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.