Justice Rohit Deo of the Bombay High Court (HC) tendered his resignation from office and announced the same in open court on Friday, reported Bar and Bench. He was set to retire on December 4, 2025.
Making the announcement in his courtroom in Nagpur, where the high court has a bench, Justice Deo said that he could not compromise on self-respect, according to a lawyer who was present.
Justice Deo also apologised in court and stated that he holds no grudges against anyone and that he is sorry if he had hurt anyone. He told lawyers that he wants them to keep working hard and apologised for being strict with them on certain occasions, reported news agency PTI.
Justice Rohit Deo was appointed as additional judge of the Bombay HC on June 5, 2017. Later he was made a permanent judge on April 12, 2019.
He was also the assistant solicitor general, representing the central government at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, and the advocate general of Maharashtra.
Justice Deo had recently passed two verdicts in which he had stayed a Government Resolution (GR) pertaining to contractors of the Samruddhi Expressway and acquitted Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, who was sentenced for alleged Maoist links.
In October of last year, a bench led by Justice Deo acquitted sacked Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, declaring the trial proceedings in a Gadchiroli court “null and void” due to the absence of valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Saibaba had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 over alleged Maoist links.
First Published: Aug 04 2023 | 8:02 PM IST