Supreme Court shunts out 2 coal scam judges on unusual Delhi high court request

NEW DELHI: Barely six months after appointing a sessions judge to exclusively hear coal scam cases in Delhi, Supreme Court has replaced her, acting on an unusual request from the Delhi high court, which said she and another special CBI judge were “better suited for certain other responsibilities”.A bench of Chief Justice Suryakant and Justices Joymala Bagchi and V Mohana, in an order, recorded that Delhi high court had sought the transfer of special judges Sunena Sharma and Dheeraj Mor so they could be assigned other responsibilities.Sharma had assumed charge in January after SC approved Delhi HC’s request to relieve then incumbent Sanjay Bansal, who had presided over the special coal scam court for nearly four-and-a-half years. Mor was appointed special judge in April 2025. The latest request came with Sharma barely six months into her tenure and Mor having completed just over a year in the post.SC noted that it had received a letter from the registrar general of Delhi HC stating that Sharma and Mor were “better suited for certain other responsibilities”. The HC also described both judicial officers as “of outstanding merit” and said it wished to utilise their services elsewhere.Accepting the request, the top court permitted Delhi high court to transfer Sharma and Mor from the posts of special judges hearing CBI coal scam cases. It also approved the appointment of Virender Kumar Kharta, earlier special judge of the NDPS court at Saket, and Ajay Garg, previously an additional sessions judge at a fast-track court in Tis Hazari, as their replacements. Kharta will succeed Sharma, while Garg will take over from Mor.On Friday, Delhi HC issued the consequential transfer and posting orders. Interestingly, neither Sharma nor Mor has been assigned a fresh judicial posting. According to the notification, both have been attached to the office of the principal district and sessions judge (CBI).The high court directed both officers to notify all matters in which judgments or orders had been reserved before relinquishing charge and pronounce them on the scheduled date or, at the latest, within two to three weeks despite the transfer. The dates fixed for pronouncement must also be reflected in the cause lists of both the previous and new courts, as well as on the court’s website.Last year, 29 CBI corruption cases were pending before two special coal scam courts, while more than 27 had already been disposed of.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.