Justice S Muralidhar takes oath as judge at Punjab and Haryana HC

All judges of the high court, the registrar, officers of the registry, senior advocates and office-bearers of the High Court Bar Association were among those present at the ceremony, an official release said.

Justice Muralidhar, 58, was given a rousing welcome by lawyers on his arrival here.

Roads leading to the high court were dotted with banners, with one reading "Delhi's loss-Punjab's gain".

Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 26, the same day when a bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches.

On his farewell on Thursday, Justice Muralidhar cleared the air over the controversy on his transfer from the Delhi High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court amid Delhi violence. In his explanation, he said he had replied to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde's communication that he was fine with the proposal and had no objection to it.

The Supreme Court collegium, headed by the CJI, had in a meeting on February 12 recommended the transfer of Justice Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Muralidhar was number three in the Delhi High Court, his parent high court as a judge.

He had been associated with the bar and bench in New Delhi for 58 years. He had first decided to move to Delhi three years after he began his practice in 1984 in Chennai.