Rajasthan Acting Chief Justice Steps Back from Hearing Cases Amid Protests

Rajasthan Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma has withdrawn from hearing cases, following an escalation of protests by lawyer associations. The move came on Monday when he revised the judicial roster for the Jaipur Bench, removing himself from the matters he had earlier assigned to a division bench comprising himself and Justice Sangeeta Sharma.

Initially, the roster issued on August 24 had listed a range of cases under that bench, including public interest litigations, special appeals, income tax matters, contempt cases, and civil writ petitions. Arbitration matters were also scheduled before him on Friday afternoons.

However, as protests intensified, the acting CJ issued a fresh roster on Monday, transferring all those cases to a division bench of Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Sandeep Taneja. Arbitration matters were excluded from this reassignment.

The development follows the surfacing of letters written by Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant earlier this month. In those letters, dated August 2, 10, and 17, Justice Mehta accused Justice Sharma of "misuse of powers" and cited "several complaints" that raised doubts about his integrity. He also urged the transfer of the acting CJ to another high court and the appointment of a new chief justice.