The Supreme Court collegium has withdrawn its recommendation to appoint Justice S Muralidhar as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. The collegium in its resolution said that Justice Muralidhar's retirement is less than four months away. Therefore, the recommendation made to the Central Government regarding him is withdrawn. This proposal has been uploaded on the website of the Supreme Court.

Justice Muralidhar is currently the Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court. In September 2022, he was recommended by the collegium to be made the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. But the government shelved the proposal. Many of the recommendations of the collegium that followed him were approved by the government. However, the proposal to send Justice Muralidhar to the Madras High Court was not made good. The Supreme Court clashed with the government many times over this issue. The court also issued warnings to the government. but the law ministry did not approve him being sent to Madras High Court.

Justice Muralidhar will retire on August 7, 2023. The collegium has withdrawn its proposal to clear the way for Justice SV Gangapurwala to be made the permanent Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. The collegium could not make Justice Muralidhar the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court even with all its best efforts. SV Gangapurwala is currently serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Justice S Muralichar was stationed in the Delhi High Court during the Delhi riots. During that time a case came up in which he reprimanded the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. He then hit out at the Delhi Police asking why a case was not registered against Union Minister Anurag Thakur, MP Pravesh Verma and BJP leader Kapil Mishra for making inflammatory speeches. After that Justice Muralidhar was sent to Punjab and Haryana High Court. At present he is serving as Chief Justice of Odisha High Court and he will retire.

Would the Supreme Court Collegium recommend the name of Justice S. Murlidhar to be elevated to the Supreme Court?