The Supreme Court collegium on Monday recommended the appointment of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal as the chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court, the Hindustan Times reported.Agrawal is currently a judge in the Chhattisgarh High Court. The collegium consisted of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and BV Nagarathna.The recommendation came amid allegations of misuse of administrative power against Rajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma who is due to retire on September 26.Sharma on Monday decided to opt out of hearing cases following protests by lawyers against him, Bar and Bench reported.In letters sent to Kant in August, Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta alleged that Sharma manipulated the listing of cases to favour rich litigants and used his position to appoint persons close to him in administrative posts. Mehta had sought that the acting chief justice be replaced “with immediate effect”.As per the new roster prepared by Sharma, no bench has been constituted with him as a member, and no regular judicial sittings have been assigned to him between Tuesday and Saturday, Bar and Bench reported. The new roster also assigns cases previously handled by him to other benches.Earlier on Monday, the Rajasthan High Court Lawyers Association announced a strike until September 6, seeking Sharma’s removal as the acting chief justice and the appointment of a permanent chief justice.Sharma was appointed as a Rajasthan High Court judge in November 2016 and transferred to the Patna High Court in 2022.After Sharma sought to return to Rajasthan on health grounds, the collegium headed by DY Chandrachud, the chief justice at the time, declined his request in March 2023. Sharma was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court instead.In May 2025, a fresh collegium recommended his return to Rajasthan.He later became the acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Mehta wrote in his letters that Sharma has held the position for “more than 10 months”.Mehta has also claimed in his letters that several judges of the Rajasthan High Court had approached him during his visits to the state and expressed concerns about Sharma’s conduct.After the allegations came to light, lawyers at the Jaipur and Jodhpur benches of the High Court held protests against Sharma.On August 26, Kant had said that the allegations against Sharma were being examined at the “appropriate level”. Taking note of Mehta’s complaint, Kant had said that Sharma had to be given an opportunity to respond.Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.