The registry of the High Court of Orissa has issued a Press Release against fake news being circulated on social media against Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar by observing that "It is extremely unfortunate that a sinister attempt has been made to deliberately malign not only the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court but the institution of the judiciary as a whole."

As per the Press release issued by the High Court, one advocate had published a photograph on his Facebook wall with a caption that the Chief justice had a closed-door meeting with Mr. VK PAndian IAS, the Private Secretary to the Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik, in violation of official protocol. This was shared, published and propagated by a few people and the Msg went viral. Therefore, the High Court had issued the press release.

The Press Release said "It is extremely unfortunate that an item of fake news has been made viral on social media at the instance of a lawyer practicing in Orissa High Court by publishing a photograph and making wholly scurrilous and false statements without knowing the real facts. The photograph shows the Chief Justice of the High Court of Orissa speaking to a person at the head of a table with four other persons sitting in a semi-circle."

The press release further said that it was a public function by a charitable organization providing free treatment to poor children and said "The person sitting at the head of the table is Shri Manoj Bhimani, the Managing Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital. The other persons are three doctors of the said heart hospital apart from Mr. V.K. Pandian. The date on which the photograph was taken was 12th March, 2022 at the Satya Sai Seba Organisation, Bhubaneswar. The occasion was the inauguration of a 3 days Free Mega Heart Camp conducted by the Sathya Sai Heart Hospital of which Shri Bhimani is the head, where Hon’ble Mr. Justice M.R. Shah, Judge, Supreme Court of India was invited as the Chief Guest and Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court was invited as the Guest of Honour and Mr. V.K. Pandian, the 5T Secretary, Government of Odisha was also invited as the Mega Heart Camp was in association with the Government of Odisha. The photograph is taken at a time when the Guests were awaiting the arrival Justice M.R. Shah from Puri. This was therefore not at all a 'closed door meeting' or a 'private meeting' between the Chief Justice and Mr. Pandian as has been projected. In fact it was not a meeting at all." The press release also attached a copy of the invitation.

This post was created by Advocate Srinivas Mohanty, who is practicing at Orisa High Court. Justice Muralidhar was appointed Chief Justice of Orissa High Court in January, 2021.