Muralidhar will head a three-member body, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, investigating international humanitarian and human rights law violations in the conflict region. The Indian jurist succeeds Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
Published Nov 28, 2025 | 2:53 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 28, 2025 | 2:53 PM
S Muralidhar practised before the Supreme Court of India for nearly two decades, during which he served as counsel for the National Human Rights Commission of India.
Synopsis: The Human Rights Council decided to “urgently establish an ongoing, independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law leading up, and since 13 April 2021.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court and Senior Advocate Dr S Muralidhar as the Chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
Muralidhar will head a three-member body, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, investigating international humanitarian and human rights law violations in the conflict region. The senior Indian advocate succeeds Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
The other two members of the panel are Florence Mumba or Zambia and a reappointed Chris Sidoti of Australia. The Commission will prove alleged violations, identify those responsible, and recommend measures to ensure justice and accountability for affected civilians in the conflict zone.
“With resolution S-30/1 in 2021, the Human Rights Council decided to “urgently establish an ongoing, independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law leading up, and since 13 April 2021,” the Council said in a media statement.
The resolution further requested the commission of inquiry to “investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.” The Commission is mandated to report annually to the UN Human Rights Council and to the UN General Assembly.
In 2024, the Human Rights Council passed further resolutions requesting the Commission to present reports to it on settlers, and on sales of arms, including those used during the Israeli military operation in Gaza since 7 October 2023. In September 2025, the Commission concluded in its report that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Muralidhar practised before the Supreme Court of India for nearly two decades, during which he served as counsel for the National Human Rights Commission of India and appeared as amicus curiae in several public interest cases.
In 2002, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Delhi. Muralidhar was a part-time member of the Law Commission of India from 2002 to 2006. In May 2006, he was appointed as a Judge of the Delhi High Court. In January 2021, Muralidhar became the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, retiring in August 2023.
His tenure in Orissa was marked by administrative reforms, including digitisation of court records and the establishment of Judicial Archives and Museum of Justice in Cuttack. In October 2023, he was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India and returned to legal practice.
Muralidhar is the author of Law, Poverty and Legal Aid: Access to Criminal Justice (2004) and is the editor of a volume of essays on the Supreme Court of India, titled, [In]Complete Justice: 75 Years of the Supreme Court.
