##YSK: Delhi HC Judge Muralidhar who gave bail to Karti Chidambaram and is awarding stay orders in #UrbanNaxal cases now, is the husband of activist lawyer Dr. Usha Ramanathan of Amnesty International and The Wire fame.##
This information is absent from both their bios on all sites, even in cases where they are working together closely, for example on the Anti Death Penalty group Project 39A where they have authored a major founding work together: https://www.livelaw.in/prof-anup-surendranaths-resignation-sc-registry-raises-serious-objections-to-the-media-reports/
The Death Penalty Research Project was conceptualized in May, 2013, in order >>to address the absence of empirical research on death penalty in India. Its aim >>is to develop a basic socio-economic profile of prisoners sentenced to death >>in India and map their experience with all aspects of criminal justice system. >>In consultation with experts like Usha Ramanathan, Dr. Yug Mohit Chaudhry >>and Justice S. Muralidhar, they designed a study that would focus on interviews >>with prisoners sentenced to death, their families and their defense lawyers.
The black and white indisputable proof that the two are indeed married comes from a case from 2007 when, once again, they helped each other help their friends. A famous DU Law School personality, Lotika Sarkar had had her house squatted by a tenant and Delhi HC had given her some respite. Later the tenant once again started acting up. Story:
Construction at Lotika's House, inquiry ordered archive.is link We had almost finalized another house when Usha (Ramanathan, with whom >>Lotika is at present staying) persuaded us to buy the upper two floors of this >>house. We wanted to help her so we agreed. The house is in a terrible state.'' >>The ground floor will be retained by Lotika.
Dr Nundy conceded that at present, he only has an agreement to sell, signed by >>Lotika that has not been registered yet. They had been given possession in >>presence of ''many eminent witnesses including Justice S Muralidhar (Usha's >>husband) of the Delhi high court and we had got it video recorded. We did not >>execute a sale agreement because there is right now a squatter (Lotika's former >>maid Ranjita who is occupying a portion of the servants' quarters) on the >>premises and it is for Monupishi and her friends to get rid of them.''
So that's that.
A second undeniable link is their residential phone number. Searching for “Usha Ramanathan” on Google threw up this quirky The Hindu BusinessLine article from 2014 where the arch enemy of Aadhaar/UIDAI proudly proclaims that she does not use mobile phones. Well, I thought, she must use some phone, right? So I Googled for Justice Dr. S Muralidhar's phone number, and found one listed. Took his residence phone number and Googled it. Bam: “Usha Ramanathan | Independent law research delhi | uXXXXXr@gmail.com | 011-2XXXXXX6”. The same phone number.
Usha's IELRC bio, IHRB bio, Wire listing, both Usha's and Muralidhar's IJLT bios (where they are working together), Muralidhar's Delhi HC bio, nowhere, literally nowhere, is the relationship even hinted upon.
Usha Ramanathan is not only an integral part of the #TukdeTukde ecosystem, she is to UIDAI what Medha Patkar was to Sardar Sarovar Dam, with Modi's governance being the target in both cases. She has worked together with Gautam Navlakha on numerous occasions including Working Group on Women's Rights, Nov 2014 Jantar Mantar protests for Bhopal Gas Victims, 2008 LASSNet Conference, Sanhati: Fighting Neoliberalism in West Bengal, and speaking against AFSPA and much much more.
All this culminates in an open travesty of justice. Corruption of the highest order, one that compromises the integrity of the nation itself.
#BhimaKoregaon: Justice Muralidhar questions State on Gautam Navlakha arrest
Sources: 1. https://www.project39a.com/ 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotika_Sarkar 3. https://archive.fo/LgQt7 4. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/Freedom-from-the-mobile-phone/article20852807.ece 5. http://www.ielrc.org/activities/workshop_1101/short%20profile/URamanathan.htm 6. https://www.ihrb.org/focus-areas/information-communication-technology/podcast-usha-ramanathan-1 7. https://thewire.in/author/uramanathan 8. http://www.ijlt.in/IJLT-CIS-Lecture-Series.html 9. https://archive.fo/8oosz 10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4404139?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 11. https://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/eminent-delhi-citizens-support-fasting-bhopal-gas-victims/story-IfnIYJF7QOMmEJoOkXO46L.html 12. http://lassnet.blogspot.com/2008_12_24_archive.html 13. http://sanhati.com/category/excerpted/page/4/ 14. https://archive.fo/6MnK1