The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday withdrew its recommendation for transfer of Orissa High Court judge Justice S Muralidhar to the Madras High Court. Justice Muralidhar is actually retiring on August 7 this year. The collegium, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, withdrew the decision saying the government is yet to take a decision on the proposal.

On 2022, Justice Muralidhar was recommended to be transferred to the Madras High Court. The recommendation is pending with the government since then. The Collegium said, in view of this delay, it has now recommended the appointment of Justice SV Gangapurvala as the permanent Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Also, the Collegium has again recommended the transfer of Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice T Raja, to the Rajasthan High Court. The collegium had recommended transfer of Justice Raja to the Rajasthan High Court on November 16 last year. A week later, he turned down the justices' request to reconsider the proposed transfer. The Central Government has not yet approved the transfer of Justice Raja.

The recommendations should be implemented. It is noteworthy that Justice Raja is also retiring on May 24 this year. The Collegium also recommended that Justice Augustine G. Masih, senior to Justice Raja, be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.

In addition, the Collegium has recommended the appointment of Justice SV Bhatti of the Andhra Pradesh High Court as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. At the same time, the name of Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka has been recommended for the Bombay High Court. The name of Justice MS Ramachandra Rao has been recommended for the post of Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.