The most moving moment for Justice S Muralidhar as a judge of the Delhi High Court was on July 2, 2009, when a bench involving him scrapped the penal provision which criminalised sexual intercourse between two consenting adults of same sex.
Justice Muralidhar, who was bid farewell from the Delhi High Court on Thursday, said at the time of pronouncing the judgement, he and the then Chief Justice of the high court A P Shah knew that something "irreversible" had happened.
The judge, who will move to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said: "The relief that swept through the courtroom amongst those waiting to hear the verdict was palpable. Many broke down right here in front of us".
The judgement delivered by them was set aside by the Supreme Court on December 11, 2013. But in September 2018, the apex court dealing with the issue on a fresh writ petition, came to the findings that were delivered by Justices Shah and Muralidhar.
Going back to nearly 11 years, Justice Muralidhar said, "The most moving moment as a judge was in this very court sitting where I am today when on July 2, 2009, (then) Chief Justice A P Shah and I delivered our judgement in NAZ Foundation.
"Even as we held that consensual same sex between adults in private was not a crime, the relief that swept through the courtroom amongst those waiting to hear the verdict was palpable. Many broke down right here in front of us."
Retired Justice A P Shah was also present in the high court at the farewell programme of Justice Muralidhar.
Justice Muralidhar is known as a judge who champions human rights causes and it was reflected in the speech of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel who spoke about some of the books written by the outgoing judge on topics including Bhopal Gas Tragedy and access to justice.
Bar Council of Delhi chairman K K Mittal said Justice Muralidhar is a human rights champion.
Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra termed Justice Muralidhar as a "highly intellectual, courageous, upright and incorruptible judge".
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