JAIPUR: Justice Sanjay K Agrawal was sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on Monday. Governor Haribhau Bagade administered the oath at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan and later signed the warrant of appointment issued by the President.
Justice Agrawal was transferred from the Chhattisgarh High Court, where he briefly served as acting chief justice following the retirement of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha on September 4. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa, members of the state cabinet and judges of the Rajasthan High Court attended the ceremony.
He takes charge at a time when allegations levelled against former acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, are under institutional consideration. Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta reportedly wrote four letters to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on August 2, 10, 17 and 30, accusing Justice Sharma of corruption, nepotism, favouritism, administrative impropriety and misuse of powers.
Justice Mehta also sought Justice Sharma’s transfer from Rajasthan and urged the appointment of a regular chief justice from another high court. The CJI indicated that the complaints against a serving judge would have to be examined under the judiciary’s established institutional mechanism and that Justice Sharma should be allowed to respond.
Justice Sharma subsequently sent a detailed reply to the CJI, rejecting the allegations as baseless and saying he had submitted evidence in support of his response. The Supreme Court collegium has not yet considered Justice Sharma’s transfer from Rajasthan while the allegations against him remain under consideration.