Odisha High Court's former chief justice and senior counsel Dr S Muralidhar has been appointed chair of the United Nation's 'Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel'. The announcement was made by Human Rights Council president Ambassador Jürg Lauber, placing an Indian jurist at the forefront of one of the UN’s most scrutinised investigations amid continuing violence and geopolitical tensions in the region.
Dr Muralidhar succeeds Brazilian expert Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro and will lead the three-member Commission established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human-rights law committed by all parties to the conflict.
The body, created in 2021 through Resolution S-30/1, is tasked with examining incidents leading up to and since 13 April 2021. Its mandate includes investigating the underlying factors that fuel recurrent hostilities, including systematic discrimination and repression on national, ethnic, racial or religious grounds. The Commission reports annually to both the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.
The appointment comes at a time when the Commission’s work has gained renewed global attention. In 2024, the Human Rights Council expanded the scope of its requests, directing the panel to produce dedicated reports on Israeli settlers and on international arms transfers, including those used during the Israeli military operations in Gaza following the 7 October 2023 attacks.
In its report released in September 2025, the Commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a finding that sparked intense debate among governments, rights groups and international legal experts.
Justice Muralidhar will serve alongside Zambian jurist Florence Mumba and Australian human-rights lawyer Chris Sidoti. Ms Mumba, a former Supreme Court Judge of Zambia, has held senior roles in international justice, including as a Judge and later Vice-President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She also contributed to the drafting of provisions that recognised rape as a war crime under international law. Mr Sidoti, who has been reappointed to the Commission, previously served as Australian Human Rights Commissioner and has advised multiple UN bodies, national rights institutions and the special advisory council for Myanmar.
A respected figure in India’s legal fraternity, Dr Muralidhar practised before the Supreme Court of India for nearly two decades and served as counsel to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). He appeared as amicus curiae in several prominent public-interest matters, contributing to landmark rulings on human rights and social justice.
He was appointed a Judge of the Delhi High Court in 2006 and later became Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court in 2021, where he oversaw significant administrative reforms including digitisation of court records and the establishment of the judicial archives and museum of justice in Cuttack. After retiring in 2023, he returned to legal practice and was designated senior advocate by the Supreme Court.
The Commission’s ongoing work continues to draw global scrutiny as it probes alleged violations across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Its expanded mandate to examine arms sales and the conduct of Israeli settlers reflects mounting international concern over the humanitarian fallout from the conflict, particularly in Gaza. Justice Dr Muralidhar’s appointment places him at the centre of these efforts to determine accountability, recommend corrective measures and document patterns of abuse that have contributed to decades of instability.
The UN Human Rights Council stated that the Commission remains responsible for investigating all alleged violations committed by all actors, identifying those responsible, and making recommendations to advance justice for victims. As the conflict continues to reverberate across the region and beyond, the leadership of the newly constituted panel will play a critical role in shaping the international community’s understanding of events and in guiding future responses to persistent rights abuses.
