Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta has urged the Chief Justice of India to appoint a new Chief Justice from another state to the Rajasthan High Court with “immediate effect”. The justice made the request in three separate letters dated August 2, 10 and 17, 2026, citing alleged misuse of administrative powers by Rajasthan acting chief Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Sharma is due to retire next month. He was appointed to the Rajasthan High Court in November 2016 and transferred to the Parna High Court in 2022.
In the August 2 letter, Justice Mehra stated that several Rajasthan High Court judges expressed concerns regarding Justice Sharma’s conduct.
The judges were also reportedly threatened with action and transfer by Sharma, who cited his closeness to the CJI.
Justice Mehta also referred to a recent comment by the CJO and Justice Joymalya Bagchi in SC. The two judges had expressed concern over the the tendency of judges nearing retirement to “hit the sixes” and pass orders for extraneous reasons. Mehta applied the expression " hit the sixes’ to Justice Sharma and said that he possessed the quality since he took over as acting chief.
In the August 17 letter, Justice Mehta says that a sitting Rajasthan judge, Justice Uma Shankar Vyas, complained to fellow judges of a vindictive conduct by Justice Sharma towards his wife, a senior district judiciary officer.
Justice Vyas also claimed that Justice Sharma held up the inauguration of a new Jodhpur court building on his "whims and caprices.” Mehta called it an unpardobable los the the institution.
In a separate complaint, written by advocate Pooja Tripathi to Supreme Court Justice Vikram Nath and copied to Justice Mehta and 16 other judges, it alleges that Justice Sharma used his position to secure permanent Lok Adalat appointments in Jaipur and Ajmer for people close to him, including a childhood friend and the spouses of two district judges.
Sharma also reportedly forwarded the named the four women advocated for elevation to the High Court despite, according to Tripathi, none of them being active practitioners. Each of the women was linked to a senior lawyer or retired judge close to him.
Justice Mehta also said that there were efforts being made to confirm Justice Sharma as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan despite the “damning evidence.”
"I have been repeatedly requesting you to decide on appointing a Chief Justice from another State to the 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.
