New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday bid farewell to Justice Dharmesh Sharma, who is due to retire on June 8, and praised him for his contributions to both the judicial and administrative side of the law.
At present, the high court has a strength of 36 judges against a sanctioned strength of 45 permanent judges and 15 additional judges.
Speaking at the farewell reference held on the court's last working day before the summer vacations, Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya said when a "seasoned judge" like Justice Sharma, who served the legal profession for over 30 years, leaves, it is a loss for the entire system.
Justice Sharma said having "risen from the grassroots", he was proud of his "journey".
However, considering his "relatively brief" tenure as a high court judge, he wished he had "done more for disposal of cases".
A judicial officer in the Delhi Higher Judicial Services, Justice Sharma was appointed as an additional judge of the high court on May 17, 2023. He became a permanent judge on July 22, 2024.
As a district judge in 2019, Justice Sharma convicted and awarded life sentence to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
In July 2022, he upheld the conviction of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal for tampering with evidence in a case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, which had claimed 59 lives.
In his address on Friday, Justice Sharma said the judicial services were filled with talented individuals who deserved nurturing and encouragement.
He further said the "bar is the teacher of judges and bar is the judge of judges".
Reflecting on his journey, he also said he "believed in total secularism" and it was his "frustration with disruptions" due to the frequent strikes in Tis Hazari court that he decided to focus on preparing for the judicial services.
Justice Sharma joined the Delhi Judicial Services in 1992 and was promoted to the higher judicial service in 2003.
He was posted as the New Delhi District's Principal District & Sessions Judge at the time of his elevation to the high court.
He completed his LL.B from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi in 1987.
In his tenure as a high court judge, he delivered several landmark decisions.
In March, he dismissed a plea against the demolition of a slum in Okhla dhobi ghat while ruling that the unlawful construction posed a significant threat to the ecologically sensitive River Yamuna floodplain and removal of encroachment served the greater public interest.
In another judgment, he said the condition of River Yamuna had surpassed the threshold where any further interference in its rejuvenation and restoration efforts could not be justified.
Last year, he directed a public sector bank to restore an amount of Rs 2.6 lakh illegally siphoned from the account of a 55-year-old victim of cyber fraud and pulled up the State Bank of India for "glaring service deficiency".
While refusing to set aside an order for the demolition of Pracheen Shiv Mandir near Yamuna flood plains, Justice Sharma in May last year said Lord Shiva did not need anyone's protection and would, in fact, be happier if the river bed and flood plains were cleared of all unauthorised constructions.