3 min readNew DelhiMay 30, 2025 07:56 PM IST
First published on: May 30, 2025 at 06:42 PM IST
With an Indian Premier League (IPL) analogy to acknowledge the increasing presence of “outsiders”, Justice Dharmesh Sharma on Friday bid adieu to the Delhi High Court as he said the change at the HC is positive.
“A lot many things are happening, if I’m allowed to say. The entire complexion of the (Delhi) HC is also changing, and the cricket terminology is also coming that sometimes now this High Court is looking like an IPL franchise because so many outsider players are coming and (will) come in future,” he said.
Justice Sharma was speaking at the farewell organised by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA). He retires officially on June 8, when the High Court will be on vacation.
The remarks come days after the Supreme Court Collegium on May 26, headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, recommended the transfer of three judges to the Delhi HC — Justice Nitin Sambre from Bombay High Court, Justice Vivek Chaudhary from Allahabad High Court, and Justice V Kameswar Rao’s repatriation to his parent HC of Delhi from Karnataka HC.
Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya also took charge in January after being transferred from the Bombay High Court.
Justice Sharma, while saying he will join the Bar “soon”, asserted,”I think it’s a good thing. Maybe…I don’t know how to end my note because it is a little emotional for me…I’m thankful…The justice delivery system needs some overhauling, some changes, yes. You may please bring about some objectivity to whatever is happening around…We can do more about it.”
As a trial court and special POCSO judge, in 2019, Justice Sharma had held former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar guilty of raping a minor girl in 2017. In September 2024, he had dismissed a petition by the Shahi Idgah (Waqf) Managing Committee, opposing the installation of a Maharani Jhansi statue and seeking that the DDA and MCD be restrained from such encroachment.
He earned his law degree in 1987 and practised at trial courts in Delhi, mainly on the civil side.
He was also appointed as the additional standing counsel of the Centre during this time before joining the Delhi Judicial Services in 1992. After serving for a little over a decade, he was elevated to the Delhi Higher Judicial Services in August 2003. Between 2017 and 2019, he served as principal judge of the family court and was later appointed as the Principal District Judge of the New Delhi district till he was elevated to the Delhi HC in May 2023.
He served as secretary of the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee from 2007-08 and also as member secretary of Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) from 2014-17.
“He was deeply involved in the institutionalising of legal aid framework, infrastructure development and streaming of various legal awareness programmes across the Capital…He is known to be a judge of great practical wisdom, and he always remained oriented to grant relief to litigants in the court,” Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya said on Friday at the full court farewell reference of Justice Sharma.
Earning his law degree in 1987, he practised at trial courts in Delhi, mainly in civil matters. (Source: Delhi High Court website) 
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