CJI Surya Kant Says Collegium Examining Justice Sandeep Mehta's Letters Against Rajasthan HC Acting CJ Sharma

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said that he and other members of the Supreme Court collegium are already working on filling up the post of Chief Justice in the remaining High Courts, amid a raging controversy over Rajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma. In a press statement, the CJI addressed concerns raised by Senior Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta, who has written a series of letters seeking Justice Sharma's immediate replacement.

The CJI said he has "already taken note of the concerns raised in the letters written by Justice Sandeep Mehta," while stressing that allegations against a sitting judge must be dealt with strictly through the established institutional mechanism.

He maintained that the contents of the letters "cannot be adjudicated in the public domain" and that the concerned judge must be given a fair opportunity to place his response before any conclusion is reached. "The fact that allegations have been made, therefore, cannot by itself be treated as a finding against the judge," the statement said.

According to the CJI, the matter is being examined at the appropriate level, and the process will take into account the material placed by Justice Mehta as well as the response of Justice Sharma. Any decision regarding the continuation, transfer or other administrative action concerning the acting Chief Justice would be taken by the competent institutional authority after due consideration of the material, he said.

The CJI also emphasised that the Supreme Court cannot allow individual complaints concerning judges to be determined through competing claims in the media, seemingly cautioning against the matter being played out in public rather than through the collegium's internal process. The statement, issued amid growing public interest in the correspondence between the two judges, appears intended to reassure both the Bar and the public that the institution is seized of the issue, while signalling that hasty conclusions will not be drawn merely on the basis of untested allegations.

Background

Justice Sharma was appointed a Rajasthan High Court judge in November 2016, transferred to Patna High Court in 2022 and later to Punjab and Haryana High Court, before returning to Rajasthan as Acting Chief Justice under a May 2025 Collegium resolution, a post he has held over ten months.

Justice Mehta, who wrote to the CJI on August 2, 10 and 17, claimed several judges had conveyed anguish over Justice Sharma's conduct, alleging that he threatened colleagues with retaliatory transfers while citing proximity to the CJI.

His letters also flagged appeals over valuable Udaipur land listed before a Jaipur bench headed by Justice Sharma, despite his own earlier ruling that principal-seat matters could not move from Jodhpur to Jaipur. He cited a complaint by Justice Uma Shankar Vyas alleging vindictive conduct towards his wife, a senior judicial officer, and a delayed inauguration of a new Jodhpur court building, calling it an unpardonable loss.

Justice Mehta also cited a complaint by Advocate Pooja Tripathi to Justice Vikram Nath, alleging Justice Sharma secured permanent Lok Adalat appointments in Jaipur and Ajmer for close associates, including a childhood friend and spouses of two district judges, and recommended four women advocates for elevation despite their not being in active practice.

None of these allegations have been judicially tested. Justice Mehta urged the CJI to immediately transfer Justice Sharma and appoint a Chief Justice from another state, warning that inaction would harm the institution.