Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta alleged that acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma has been misusing his powers

Published on: Aug 26, 2026, 09:13:11 IST

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Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta has urged Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to appoint, “with immediate effect”, a Chief Justice from another state to head the Rajasthan High Court, alleging that its acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma has been misusing his administrative powers and manipulating case listings to favour “rich litigants”.

In three letters dated August 2, 10 and 17, accessed by , Justice Mehta has raised a series of allegations against Justice Sharma, who is due to retire next month.

Justice Sharma, who was appointed to the Rajasthan High Court in November 2016, was transferred to the Patna High Court in 2022. His request for repatriation to Rajasthan on health grounds was declined by the Collegium headed by then CJI DY Chandrachud in March 2023, following which he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A fresh Collegium resolution in May 2025 recommended his return to Rajasthan. He subsequently became the acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, a position he has held for “more than the last 10 months”, Justice Mehta pointed out.

In his August 2 letter, Justice Mehta said several judges of the Rajasthan High Court had met him during his visits to the state and expressed “anguish” over Justice Sharma’s conduct.

According to Justice Mehta, the judges alleged that Justice Sharma “frequently threatens his colleague judges with retributive action, including transfer” by claiming proximity to the CJI.

Justice Mehta also referred to a recent observation by a bench headed by CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi in an unrelated matter, where the Supreme Court had flagged the tendency of some judges to pass orders for extraneous considerations as their retirement approached.

Drawing on the observation, Justice Mehta said Justice Sharma “seems to be possessed of a licence to hit sixes ever since the day on which he took over as the Acting Chief Justice”.

He cited, among other instances, two division bench orders concerning what he described as “priceless lands” in Udaipur. According to Justice Mehta, a batch of appeals relating to the land was listed before a bench headed by Justice Sharma at the Jaipur seat despite an earlier judgment by Justice Sharma himself holding that such matters, being principal seat matters, could not be transferred from Jodhpur to Jaipur.

Justice Mehta’s August 17 letter also referred to an alleged complaint by sitting Rajasthan High Court judge Justice Uma Shankar Vyas about “vindictive conduct” by Justice Sharma towards his wife, a senior district judiciary officer.

Justice Vyas is stated to have complained to fellow judges that Justice Sharma had delayed the inauguration of a new court building in Jodhpur on his “whims and caprices”. Justice Mehta described the alleged delay as causing an “unpardonable” loss to the institution.

A separate complaint by advocate Pooja Tripathi to Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath, which was also copied to Justice Mehta and 15 others, alleged that Justice Sharma had used his position to secure permanent Lok Adalat appointments in Jaipur and Ajmer for people close to him.

The complaint alleged that those appointed included a childhood friend of Justice Sharma and spouses of two district judges.

Tripathi also alleged that Justice Sharma had forwarded the names of four women advocates for elevation to the High Court, despite “none of these four lady advocates” being in active practice. The complaint claimed that each of them was connected to a senior lawyer or retired judge close to Justice Sharma.

Justice Mehta’s letters further allege that efforts were underway to “confirm him as the Chief Justice in Rajasthan” despite what he described as “damning evidence”.

He therefore urged the Collegium to immediately transfer Justice Sharma out of Rajasthan, saying this was necessary “to save the Institution from further carnage”.

“I have been repeatedly requesting you to take a decision for appointing a Chief Justice from another State to Rajasthan High Court so that this unfortunate situation can be prevented. Continued ignorance of the request is, in my opinion, wholly against the interest of the institution,” Justice Mehta wrote.

Justice Mehta has his roots in the Rajasthan High Court. He was appointed a judge of the court on May 30, 2011, and was transferred as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court in February 2023. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 9, 2023.

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