New Delhi: Allegations alone cannot be treated as findings, said Chief Justice of India Surya Kant regarding the accusations against the acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Sanjeev Prakash Sharma.

Supreme Court judge Justice Sandeep Mehta wrote to the CJI on three separate occasions, levelling serious allegations against Justice Sharma and seeking an “immediate” appointment of a Chief Justice from outside Rajasthan to head the High Court.

CJI Kant, in a statement, said that the judge must be provided with a fair opportunity to give a response. “Any decision regarding the continuation, transfer or other administrative action concerning the acting Chief Justice would be taken by the competent institutional authority after due consideration of the material,” said Kant.

He asserted that the Supreme Court could not permit individual complaints by judges to be settled “through competing claims in the media.” The CJI, who is currently on a four-day visit to Germany and the UK, said that Justice Mehta’s allegations against the acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan HC cannot be treated as a finding against him.

CJI Kant added that he and other collegium members are already working on the appointment of chief justices in high courts across states, and have “taken note of the concerns raised in the letters written by Justice Sandeep Mehta.

However, he said that the contents of the letters cannot be judged in the public domain. “The fact that allegations have been made, therefore, cannot by itself be treated as a finding against the judge. The matter is being examined at the appropriate level, and the process will take into account the material placed by Justice Mehta as well as the response of Justice Sharma,” he said.

The letters by Justice Mehta accuse Justice Sharma of maladministration, nepotism and favouritism, and allege that he has used his position as master of the roster to selectively pull cases onto his own bench.