Delhi HC bids adieu to Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma upon elevation to SC

The Delhi High Court Thursday bid adieu to its outgoing Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma who took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court later during the day.

In a farewell reference organised in the high court, Justice Sharma, who helmed it for over a year, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity he has got to ''serve the people of this great nation'' as a top court judge. Adressing the gathering, he said the Bar and the Bench must always share a bond of mutual respect as it is important for the ultimate goal of delivery of justice.

''I can confidently share that judgeship has given me a great sense of satisfaction. This ability to alleviate the suffering of a litigant and to be able to uphold their rights is the hall mark of judgeship,'' he said.

Justice Sharma, who took oath as the high court's chief justice on June 28, 2022, said as a judge he always tried to ensure that a litigant went back relieved.

''Justice to litigant has always been a consistent goal. Whether or not I have succeeded in doing the same, I cannot tell and, in fact, I should not. After all, I cannot be a judge in my own cause,'' he said.

''When I joined the bench 15 years ago, I was full of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of Madhya Pradesh. Today, as I proceed to the apex court of the land, I am thrilled with the same sense of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of this great nation,'' Justice Sharma said.

Three high court chief justices, including Justice Sharma, were on Thursday elevated to the Supreme Court, taking top court to its full strength of 34 judges.

Justice Sharma's name was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on November 6.

During his tenure in the Delhi High Court, Justice Sharma dealt with several important cases.

On February 27, his bench upheld the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.

Last year, his bench held that the rights accorded to a minority institution under the Constitution cannot be extended to non-minorities and directed St Stephen's College to give 100 per cent weightage to the CUET 2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in undergraduate courses.

Recently, a bench headed by him quashed a December 2022 demolition notice by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the demolition of certain unauthorised constructions in the vicinity of Mehrauli Archaeological Park, and asked the authority to re-start the process and grant a hearing to the impacted parties before taking further action against encroachment.

Earlier this year, he asked the authorities to develop a Standard Operating Procedure to be followed in cases involving child victims of sexual offences. He also asked the Delhi Police to ensure adequate force is provided before holding any cultural festival or programme at colleges. On February 6, 2020, a large group of men had entered the premises of Gargi College during a festival and allegedly molested and harassed the girls present at the event. Justice Sharma's bench had also upheld an order setting aside an arbitral award directing ISRO's Antrix Corporation to pay damages of USD 562.2 million (over Rs 4,600 crore) with interest to Devas for terminating a deal in 2011.

Born on November 30, 1961 in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, Justice Sharma enrolled as an advocate in September 1984 and practised in service, constitutional, civil and criminal matters.

In 2003, he was designated as a senior advocate by the Madhya Pradesh High Court at a young age of 42.

Justice Sharma was elevated as an additional judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 18, 2008 and appointed as a permanent judge on January 15, 2010. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Karnataka High Court in January 2021 and then elevated as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court in October 2021.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)