New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) The Centre on Tuesday issued a notification on the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma to the Calcutta High Court on the recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Shri Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Judge, Delhi High Court, to be a Judge of the Calcutta High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Calcutta High Court," said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Last week, the apex court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, approved the proposal for the transfer of Justice Sharma to the Calcutta High Court.

"The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 27th March 2025 has recommended transfer of Mr Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court at Calcutta,” said a statement uploaded on the website of the top court.

Thereafter, three advocates’ associations of the Calcutta HC had submitted a joint memorandum to the CJI Khanna, objecting to the proposal of the transfer of Justice Sharma.

"While we are conscious of regular transfers in the usual course of administration of justice, we have reasons to believe that this transfer does not fall in that category. We also have reasons to believe that this transfer is due to certain allegations that came to light touching the propriety and manner of functioning of the Learned Judge,” read the joint memorandum signed by the Secretaries of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association, the Calcutta High Court Bar Library Club and the Incorporated Law Society of Calcutta.

In the joint memorandum, the Secretaries of the three associations have argued that they were aware of serious complaints against the said Judge of the Delhi High Court since October 2024, which the office of the CJI had also been apprised of.

The memorandum added that such short tenures prior to retirement did not and could not have any significant impact on the discharge of judicial functions and did not better the administration of justice. "Past bitter experience of having transferred Judges mentioned as above and their performance, do not install confidence, rather acts adverse to the interest of the institution. Instead, we beseech your Lordship to kindly transfer back some of our Judges who are now working in various other High Courts," the joint memorandum read.

--IANS

pds/vd