Justice Muralidhar to Head UN Inquiry Into Israel's Violations of International Humanitarian Law; India's Potemkin Airports

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Snapshot of the day

November 27, 2025

Siddharth Varadarajan

Justice S Muralidhar, former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court, was today named head of a three-member United Nations panel tasked with inquiring into violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The other two members of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel are Florence Mumba (Zambia) and Chris Sidoti (Australia). The appointments were made by the president of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Jung Lauber.

To solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s contention that online content is marked not just by obscenity but also ‘perversity’, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that while free speech must be protected, there ought to be a more efficient way to provide ‘advance warning’ against adult content. “Let something come up on a pilot basis,” the Indian Express quotes him as saying today, “and if it clogs free speech and expression, it can be looked at then. We need to build a responsible society, and once that happens, most of the problems will be solved,”. One ‘illustrative suggestion’, the top judge said, was:

“The issue is that a warning is given, and the show starts. But by the time you decide not to watch, it starts. The warning can be for a few seconds…then perhaps ask for your Aadhaar card, etc. So that your age can be verified, and then the programme starts.”

He also said that ‘self-styled bodies’ to regulate content “will not help … some neutral autonomous bodies which are free from the influence of those who exploit all of this [are needed], and the state also is needed as a regulatory measure”.

Speaking of the state’s “regulatory measures” , the CJI’s observations came even as he was hearing petitions by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia and others challenging the filing of FIRs against them.

Also considering petitions by the ‘Cure Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation’ accusing comedians like Samay Raina of making insensitive jokes against disabled people, the court directed them to hold at least two shows or programmes per month to raise funds for SMA patients.

After permitting the sale and use of so-called ‘green’ firecrackers during Diwali — even as Delhi’s air quality plunged — the Supreme Court has now delivered a blunt reality check: the capital’s toxic air cannot be solved through judicial orders alone and requires intervention from domain experts