Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court judge, Justice SP Sharma, who courted controversies during his 11-month tenure as acting chief justice, will retire Saturday. On Friday, Justice Sharma met advocates at Jaipur High Court premises and exchanged greetings with Rajasthan High Court Bar Association members.He walked through the court corridors before reaching Gandhi Chowk, where bar association office-bearers and advocates welcomed him with flower garlands and a traditional Rajasthani safa.Bar association president Rajiv Sograwal and general secretary Deepesh Sharma, along with senior and young advocates, met Justice Sharma and conveyed their best wishes. He also visited the bar association office and interacted with the general secretary.Rajasthan High Court Munshi Association separately felicitated Justice Sharma and extended its wishes on his retirement.Justice Sharma’s retirement comes after a period in which his tenure as acting chief justice attracted institutional attention. Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta had written a series of letters to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant in Aug raising allegations concerning the functioning and administration of Rajasthan High Court and seeking intervention. Justice Sharma subsequently responded to the allegations, rejecting these as baseless and factually incorrect and placing his position, along with supporting material, before CJI.There had also been uncertainty over Justice Sharma’s formal farewell reference. According to sources, he declined to accept the reference, although there was no official confirmation till Friday.The high court administration hosted a dinner in his honour Thursday at Gandhi Nagar-based High Court Guest House. Rajasthan High Court’s Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Agarwal and most judges of Jaipur bench were present.
