Chandigarh, Mar 6 (IANS): Justice S Muralidhar was on Friday administered the oath as Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here by its Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha in the presence of a large gathering comprising jurists and lawyers.

Justice Muralidhar, who was transferred here from the Delhi High Court, was greeted with roses by a number of lawyers in the High Court auditorium during the oath-taking ceremony.

Most roads leading to the High Court complex were dotted with welcome hoardings, a rare gesture to welcome a Judge, a senior advocate pointed out. "Delhi's loss is Punjab's gain," read one of the hoardings.

Delivering a farewell speech on Thursday in the Delhi High Court in the presence of a large gathering of lawyers who had thronged the building, Justice Muralidhar had talked of the sequence of events and communique on his transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Muralidhar said: "I was informed about it (transfer) on February 17 and had no problem with it. On February 17, I had received a communication from Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, about the recommendation made by the Collegium for my transfer."

Accepting the communication, the Judge said, he had replied that he has no objection to go to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Ministry of Law and Justice on February 26 notified the transfer of Justice Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

It sparked a controversy as earlier in the day, a Delhi High Court bench headed by Justice Muralidhar had read the Riots Act to Delhi Police regarding the violence in the northeast parts of the national capital and said that "another 1984-like situation cannot be allowed to happen in this city" under its watch.