SC's Justice Sandeep Mehta writes fresh letter to CJI against Rajasthan HC judge

In a fresh salvo at Rajasthan High Court judge Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, Supreme Court judge Sandeep Mehta has sent a fourth letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, accusing Sharma of interfering in an internal judicial enquiry, breaching confidentiality and abusing administrative powers.

Justice Mehta had earlier written three letters, on 2, 10 and 17 August, accusing Sharma, who was then the acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court, of 'maladministration, malpractices, nepotism and favouritism'.

Sharma, who went on leave following a protest by a group of advocates outside his courtroom, has termed the allegations against him baseless.

CJI Surya Kant had said on 26 August that Mehta’s allegations against Sharma could not be adjudicated in the public domain and that Sharma "must be given a fair opportunity" before any conclusion was reached.

In his fourth letter dated 30 August, Mehta, whose parent high court is the Rajasthan High Court, claimed he had 'further information' and 'material' regarding what he described as arbitrary, dubious and patently 'high-handed' acts by Sharma.

The latest letter alleges arbitrary changes to rules, judicial interference in a land dispute and wider corruption and administrative breakdown at the Rajasthan High Court.

Mehta also alleged that Sharma directly intervened in an internal enquiry by a complaint committee of the high court against a judicial officer accused of displaying indecent photos of a woman officer on his mobile phone.

'Two Resolutions of the committee dated May 21, 2026 and July 9, 2026 clearly record that the Acting Chief Justice (Justice Sharma) has made direct intervention in the enquiry proceedings, hampering the independence of the committee and that such intervention could vitiate the enquiry as a whole and also breached the confidentiality of such sensitive proceedings,' Mehta wrote.

He alleged that the committee, comprising three women judges of Rajasthan High Court, recorded these observations in its minutes and refused to proceed with the enquiry.

'The Committee also observed that the Acting Chief Justice caused the records of the Committee to be shared with other officers of the registry and judicial officers, thereby breaching the confidentiality of the enquiry instituted against a judicial officer with grave charges,' he claimed.

The controversy comes as Sharma’s tenure as acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court has now ended. Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal took oath as chief justice on Monday, 7 September, days after the Supreme Court collegium recommended his appointment on 31 August.

In his earlier three letters to the CJI, Mehta had levelled a series of allegations against Sharma and urged the appointment of a permanent chief justice from outside the state.

Mehta was appointed a judge of Rajasthan High Court in May 2011. He became chief justice of Gauhati High Court in February 2023 and was elevated to the Supreme Court in November that year.

Sharma was appointed a judge of Rajasthan High Court in November 2016 and transferred to Patna High Court in January 2022. His request for repatriation to Rajasthan on health grounds was not accepted by the Supreme Court collegium in March 2023. He was instead transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court. The collegium subsequently recommended his repatriation to Rajasthan in May 2025.

With PTI inputs