Justice Krishna Murari takes over as Punjab and Haryana HC chief justice

AFTER HIS SWEARINGIN, JUSTICE MURARI EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER THE PENDENCY OF CASES IN THE COURT

CHANDIGARH : Justice Krishna Murari took over as chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, on Saturday, with Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki administering oath of office to him at a ceremony held at the Haryana Raj Bhavan.

Talking to reporters after the ceremony, justice Murari expressed concern over the pendency of cases in the HC. The HC has a pendency of over 3.5 lakh cases and has 50 judges including the incumbent chief justice against the sanctioned strength of 85 judges.

“Pendency of cases is a big concern. Before I say anything I will have to first study the reasons behind it,” he said, adding that the measures taken in Allahabad HC, to clear the backlog can’t necessarily be applied here. “Here we might need some local solution...i will study and accordingly take remedial measures,” he said. Justice Murari was a judge of Allahabad HC before his appointment as the chief justice.

Born on July 9, 1958, justice Murari has a distinguished career in the legal field. His uncle GN Verma was a senior advocate and a leading lawyer on civil constitutional and revenue side. He has also been general secretary and president of the High Court Bar Association. He specialised in company matters and consolidation cases. He was elevated as an additional judge on January 7, 2004, and took oath as a permanent judge on August 18, 2005.

Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar were also present at the ceremony.

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