A Supreme Court Judge has sought the removal of the acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, over his alleged arbitrary use of power. Justice Sandeep Mehta has written letters to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, raising the matter.
Justice Sandeep Mehta wrote the first letter to the CJI on August 2, followed by two other letters on August 10 and August 17. In each of his letters, Justice Mehta repeatedly appealed to the CJI to appoint a different Chief Justice to the Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Mehta, in his first letter, made a strong claim, saying, "There are many instances in which Justice Sharma used his powers as Acting Chief Justice in a manner that does not befit the position of the head of the institution."
"I have received several complaints about the judicial work of Justice SP Sharma, which prima facie raise questions about his integrity," Justice Mehta added.
SC Judge accuses Rajasthan CJ of misusing close ties with CJI
Justice Mehta added that several Rajasthan judges told him that Justice SP Sharma used to threaten the transfer of junior judges by citing closeness with the CJI.
"During my visit to Rajasthan, several judges of the Rajasthan High Court met with me and expressed their displeasure at the behaviour of Justice SP Sharma. He frequently threatens his fellow judges with transfer action, citing his closeness to the Honourable Chief Justice of India."
Justice Mehta asks CJI why no action
In the August 17 letter, the last one, Justice Mehta asked the CJI about why the action was not being taken despite having already pointed out the very poor performance and seriously questionable activities of Justice Sharma, who is due to retire next month, on September 26.
Justice Mehta drew the attention of the CJI to the fact that Justice Sharma had been serving as Acting Chief Justice for an unusually long period of ten months.
Justice Sharma was promoted to the Rajasthan High Court in November 2016. He was transferred to the Patna High Court in 2022.
Justice Mehta pointed out that in March 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium had rejected Justice Sharma's appeal to return to the Rajasthan High Court due to health reasons and instead proposed his transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Mehta argued that the collegium's decision not to send him back to the Rajasthan High Court was likely based on Justice S.P. Sharma's past conduct while serving as a judge there. However, in May 2026, the Supreme Court collegium approved Justice Sharma's return to the Rajasthan High Court.
In his letter to the CJI, Justice Mehta said, "It is incomprehensible why Justice S.P. Sharma was given so much leeway despite it being clearly mentioned in the transfer recommendation dated March 28, 2023."