Calcutta HC Lawyers Oppose Delhi HC Judge Transfer

Reject Judges with Questionable Image or Short Tenures

Three lawyer organizations from the Calcutta High Court have expressed their objections to the proposed transfer of Delhi High Court judge, Dinesh Kumar Sharma, to the Calcutta HC. They argue that the Calcutta HC should not be a “dumping ground” for judges with a “questionable image or short stints”.

Whistleblower Complaints

• The letter includes whistleblower emails sent to the Supreme Court and Delhi HC in October and November 2024.
• The emails allege impropriety and questionable functioning of Justice Sharma.
• The lawyer organizations urge the CJI and the Collegium to review, reconsider, and withdraw the decision to transfer Justice Sharma.

Transfer Not in Line with Regular Transfers

The lawyer organizations argue that the proposed transfer does not fall within the scope of “regular transfers in the usual course of administration of justice”. They suspect that the transfer is due to certain allegations that have come to light regarding the propriety and manner of functioning of the Learned Judge.

Short Stints and Questionable Image

• The letter states that Calcutta HC does not deserve to have a transferred judge with either a questionable image or a short stint.
• The lawyer organizations refer to five judges who were transferred from other HCs to Calcutta HC between 2016 and 2023 but retired within months of joining.
• They argue that such short tenures prior to retirement do not have any significant impact in the discharge of judicial functions and did not “better” the administration of justice.

Past Experience with Transferred Judges

The letter also refers to the unfortunate incident of a sitting judge, Justice CS Karnan, who was transferred from Madras HC to Calcutta HC and was jailed for six months in 2016 by the SC for contempt.

Request to Transfer Back Calcutta HC Judges

• The lawyer organizations urge the CJI to transfer back some of the Calcutta HC judges who are now working in various other high courts.
• According to records, eight Calcutta HC judges have recently been transferred to other HCs, three of them as chief justices of Odisha, Meghalaya, and Sikkim HCs.