Who is Justice Satish Chandra Sharma?

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma is a newly appointed Supreme Court judge appointed on 09^th November 2023. His appointment to the SC was approved by the collegium on 06^th November 2023. Justice S C Sharma is a distinguished legal figure known for his contributions to the field of law and justice. Born on 30^th November 1961, Justice Sharma has had a remarkable career marked by his commitment to upholding the principles of justice and fairness.

How was the Career Journey of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma?

• Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was awarded the National Merit Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies.
• He enrolled as a student of law at Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, in 1981.
• He enrolled as an advocate on 1^st September 1984.
• He practised in Constitutional, Service, Civil and Criminal matters before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur.
• He was appointed Additional Central Government Counsel on 28^th May 1993 and was appointed senior panel counsel by the Government of India on 28^th June 2004.
• In 2003, he was designated as a Senior Advocate by the MP HC at the young age of 42, being one of the youngest senior advocates of MP HC.
• He was elevated as an Additional Judge of MP HC on 18^th January 2008.
• He was appointed as a Permanent Judge on 15^th January 2010.
• Justice S.C. Sharma is an avid reader and is also known for his contributions to various Universities.
• He was transferred to Karnataka HC as Judge on 31^st December 2020 and took oath on 4^th January 2021.
• He was later appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Karnataka HC on 31^st August 2021.
• He was elevated as Chief Justice of Telangana HC on 11^th October 2021 and transferred to Delhi HC as Chief Justice and took oath of office on 28^th June 2022.
• He was the elevated as Judge of the SC on 9^th November 2023.

What are the Notable Judgments of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma?

• Adinarayan Shetty v. Principal Secretary (2020):
  • The bench consisting of Justice S C Sharma invoked Public Trust Doctrine while allowing the petition against Karnataka Housing Board, which is an instrumentality of the State.
• Court on Its Own Motion v. KVS (2023):
  • National Association of Deaf filed a petition before SC contending that under Section 17 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) mandates for employing teachers, including teachers with disabilities.
  • Section 34 of the RPwD Act mandates 4% reservation for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), out of which 1% posts are reserved for deaf and hard of-hearing persons.
  • The association contended that Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has ignored the statutory provisions as contained under the RPwD Act in its advertisement for recruitment.
  • The bench also consisting of Justice S C Sharma directed the Secretary, of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to issue suitable guidelines for the implementation of reservation policy by all departments in a uniform manner.
• Ravikant Chauhan v. Union of India (2023):
  • A Notification issued by the Ministry of Family and Welfare was under the issue which disallowed the use of donor gametes in surrogacy procedures.
    • The petitioner contended that this arbitrarily and unreasonably curtails access to legally regulated surrogacy services for infertile couples wherein either/both partner(s) are unable to generate viable gametes.
  • The bench also consisting of Justice S C Sharma held that the notification violates the basic rights of a married infertile couple to parenthood by denying them access to legally and medically regulated procedures and services.
    • Further, the Impugned Notification does not disclose any rational justification, basis or intelligible criteria for discriminating between citizens based on their ability to produce gametes for the purpose of availing Surrogacy services.
• Amit Sahni v. High Court of Delhi (2023):
  • The Division bench of Delhi HC also consisting of Justice S C Sharma directed that Delhi HC shall ensure that all the Commercial Courts are made fully functional as and when the infrastructure is available and Officers are available to be appointed to the post of District Judge, Commercial Courts.
• National Federation of Blind v. KVS (2023):
  • National Federation of the Blind challenged a notification promulgated by KVS for recruitment on several posts as discriminatory for PWD’s as the notification did not follow the mandates of RPwD Act.
  • The bench also consisting of Justice S C Sharma held that discrimination is not only a denial of the promise of equal protection before the law. Rather, every act of exclusion is an assault on the dignity of a person.