Justice Sanjay K Agarwal appointed Acting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court

The Central government has notified the appointment of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal as the Acting Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

The move comes in the wake of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha's retirement from office on September 4.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Agrawal, Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court consequent upon retirement of Shri Justice Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court on 04.09.2026," reads the notification issued by the Central government yesterday.

Justice Agrawal was elevated as an additional judge of that Court in September 2013 and made a permanent judge in March 2016. Before his elevation, he had served as the Advocate General of Chhattisgarh.

Notably, Justice Agarwal was recently also recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium to become the next Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.

This development came in the backdrop of a controversy surrounding the present Acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma.

Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta recently wrote to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant seeking Justice Sharma's transfer out of Rajasthan and appointment of a regular Chief Justice from another High Court.

Justice Mehta levelled allegations of a misuse of administrative powers and case listings by Justice Sharma. Justice Sharma has denied the allegations, counter-alleging that they were borne out of personal animosity. He has also opted to not carry out any judicial work for now.

Amid these developments, the Collegium had proposed that Chhattisgarh High Court's Justice Agrawal be immediately transferred to the Rajasthan High Court and be appointed its Chief Justice. This proposal, however, is yet to be cleared by the Central government.

In the meantime, the Centre has now appointed Justice Agarwal as Chhattisgarh High Court's Acting Chief Justice.

[Read Notification]