The central government approved the elevation of sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma as a judge of the Delhi High Court on Monday. He is serving as the principal districts and sessions judge of Patiala House Court at present and has, in the recent past, given important verdicts including the one in the Unnao rape and murder case and the Uphaar fire tragedy evidence tampering case.
In April, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended the names of three judicial officers for their appointment as additional judges of the Delhi HC, including Sharma. The other two judges, Girish Kathpalia and Manoj Jain, were appointed as additional judges of the high court last month.
Who is Dharmesh Sharma?
Sharma was born on June 9, 1963, in Delhi. He completed his BCom (Hons) in 1984 from Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College, LLB and LLM from the DU’s Campus Law Centre in 1987 and 2001, respectively.
In August 2019, the SC transferred the four Unnao cases from a CBI court in Lucknow to Delhi in a suo motu proceeding, and directed Sharma to finish the trial in 45 days. After hearing the case for close to four months daily since August 5, 2019, Sharma on December 16 that year, held former Unnao’s former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar guilty of raping a minor girl in 2017.
However, his co-accused Shashi Singh was acquitted in the case. He was then the special POCSO judge and gave the order of life imprisonment for Sengar.
Released Ansal brothers in Uphaar tragedy evidence tampering case
Overturning an order of the magisterial court, Sharma ordered the release of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal against the jail term they had already finished, in a case of evidence tampering in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, which had claimed 59 lives.
On November 8, 2021, a magisterial court had awarded seven-year jail terms to the real estate barons and they were in prison since.
The court also ordered the release of former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and another convict PP Batra against the jail term they had completed since November 8, 2021; however, he upheld the fine of Rs 2.25 crore imposed on each Sushil and Gopal Ansal and Rs 3 lakh each on the other two by the magisterial court earlier.
“We empathise with you (Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorti). Many lives were lost, which can never be compensated. But you must understand that penal policy is not about retribution. We have to consider their (Ansals) age. You have suffered, but they have also suffered,” he had said.
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