“Judiciary Failed Me”: MP Judge Resigns After Senior Accused of Harassment Gets High Court Promotion

Aditi Kumar Sharma, reinstated earlier by the Supreme Court, resigns from judicial service alleging years of institutional silence and injustice

Civil Judge Aditi Kumar Sharma, who was reinstated earlier this year by the Supreme Court after a controversial termination, has resigned from the Madhya Pradesh judiciary, citing harassment by a senior judge who was recently elevated to the High Court. Her powerful resignation letter, dated July 28, alleges years of systemic inaction, abuse of power, and a lack of accountability.

Key Highlights from Her Resignation Letter:

• “I am resigning not because I failed the institution, but because the institution failed me.”
• She refers to herself as a judge “who dared to speak up against a senior judge wielding unaccountable power”.
• Claimed she submitted documented evidence of misconduct but no inquiry or notice was initiated.
• The accused was instead rewarded with elevation to the High Court — “a pedestal instead of a summons.”
• “No reinstatement, no apology, no compensation can heal these wounds.”

Background of the Controversy:

• In 2023, Aditi Kumar Sharma was terminated from service along with five other women judicial officers, citing “unsatisfactory performance”.
• The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the termination and, on February 28, ruled that Sharma’s removal was “arbitrary and illegal”, ordering her reinstatement.
• On August 1, 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court reinstated four of the six officers, excluding Aditi Kumar Sharma and Sarita Chaudhary.

Institutional Silence and Emotional Farewell:

In her emotional sign-off, Sharma wrote:

“I leave this institution with no medals, no celebration, and no bitterness — only the bitter truth that the judiciary failed me. But worse — it failed itself.”

She concluded by saying she was resigning “not as an officer of the court, but as a victim of its silence.”