Justice Rajiv is Acting CJ of Punjab & Haryana HC

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21

Justice Rajiv Sharma has been appointed Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the President following the elevation of Chief Justice Krishna Murari as a Supreme Court judge.

“The President is pleased to appoint Justice Rajiv Sharma, the senior-most judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that high court with effect from the date Justice Krishna Murari relinquishes the charge as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court consequent upon his appointment as a Supreme Court Judge,” read the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Justice).

It is learnt that Chief Justice Murari relinquished the charge today. First puisne judge, Justice Rajiv Sharma is known for expeditious disposal of cases and his concern for environment. He has delivered landmark judgments such as granting a living entity status to the Ganga and the animal kingdom. He has also delivered key verdicts such as deletion of caste from FIRs, directives for preventing suicides by farmers and abolishing age-old system of solitary confinement for death penalty convicts.

Justice Sharma is also known for his unending tirade against drug menace and a series of other reformist orders in the realm of education, health and mental health. A Bench headed by Justice Sharma also ordered a crackdown on encroachments in Chandigarh.

Born on October 8, 1958, Justice Sharma obtained LLB degree from Himachal Pradesh University before his enrollment as an advocate in 1982. Designated as senior advocate in 2002, Justice Sharma primarily practised in the Himachal Pradesh HC in constitutional law, administrative law, employment cases and environmental law.

Justice Sharma was appointed Additional Judge, Himachal Pradesh HC, on April 3, 2007, and confirmed as permanent judge on March 31, 2013. He was transferred to the Uttarakhand HC in September, 2016, before being appointed Acting Chief Justice there on August 7 last year. He was shifted to the Punjab and Haryana HC and assumed the office as judge on November 13 last year.