SC collegium supersedes Justice Sharma, recommends junior judge for CJ post

Even as Rajasthan High Court acting chief justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma has publicly rejected allegations of corruption, nepotism and misuse of administrative powers levelled against him by Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta, the Supreme Court collegium has chosen a judge junior to him for elevation as chief justice of another high court -- a decision that assumes significance as Justice Sharma is just 23 days away from retirement.

The collegium on August 31 recommended Rajasthan High Court judge Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati as the chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, while separately recommending Chhattisgarh High Court judge Justice Sanjay Kumar Agrawal as the next chief justice of Rajasthan. The recommendations came even as the institutional process on the allegations against Justice Sharma is still underway. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has made clear that the allegations cannot by themselves be treated as findings against him.

The significance of Justice Bhati’s elevation lies partly in the seniority equation. Justice Sharma and Justice Bhati were appointed additional judges of the Rajasthan High Court on the same day -- November 16, 2016, but Justice Sharma was placed ahead of Bhati in the original order of seniority. Both were subsequently made permanent judges with effect from March 16, 2018.

Justice Sharma, born in September 1964, is due to retire on September 26, leaving him with barely three weeks in office. Justice Bhati, born in September 1970, has more than six years remaining on the bench and is due to retire in September 2032.

Thus, while the collegium’s recommendation of Bhati as chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court is not, by itself, a finding on any of the allegations against Justice Sharma, it has the effect of passing over a senior judge who had been ahead of Justice Bhati in the Rajasthan High Court’s seniority list and was serving as its acting chief justice.

The development comes days after Justice Mehta wrote three letters to CJI Kant -- on August 2, 10 and 17, urging that a regular chief justice from another high court be appointed to Rajasthan and that Justice Sharma be transferred out of the state.

In his letters, Justice Mehta accused Justice Sharma of “corruption”, “nepotism” and “favouritism”, besides alleging that he misused his powers as master of the roster by selectively shifting cases to his own bench and favouring “rich and influential” litigants. He also questioned a series of administrative decisions concerning the high court’s Jodhpur principal seat, designation of senior advocates and a three-day conference in Jaipur.

In his first public response to the controversy, Justice Sharma has now rejected the allegations as “unfounded, false and factless”, saying he has submitted his response along with evidence to the CJI.

Justice Sharma said “recent developments in the media and social media” prompted him to issue the statement, adding that the allegations had been made out of “animosity”.