Judge Anuja Prabhudessai becoming the Judge of the Bombay High Court is historic wherein in the pages of Goa's history she would go as the first Goan lady to be a High Court Judge.
For 52 year old Anuja Prabhudessai the journey to this exalted position has been a very cumbersome one. She had to brave the very high handed injustice meted out to her four years ago when on her very birthday on 8th February 2010 instead of a bouquet of flowers she was served a suspension order. She being the Senior most District Judge it was a very systematic well designed ploy to sideline and abort her then impending elevation as judge of the Bombay High Court. That pre planned move was unwarranted and a grave injustice while she valiantly braced those odd days for almost a year under suspension. Anuja Prabhudessai had to take the battle against that malicious injustice meted out to her all the way to the Supreme Court of India where she finally got justice and the truth was vindicated. However sadly those persons who conspired in framing those fake charges against her have gone scot free. It was vital for the credibility of the judicial system that the conspirators of that most foul plot against her needed to be exposed and punished. Over the last 23 years as a Judge Anuja Prabhudessai has proved to be very talented, well mannered, soft-spoken yet very firm in the dispensation of justice. Even when posted as Law Secretary of the State she refused to bow to the illegal and unjustified designs of the politicians. Ever since her appointment as a judge in 1991, Anuja Prabhudessai has displayed extremely high levels of dedication and integrity with her character unblemished during her entire tenure. With all her humility and gentleness she did not deserve to be ill treated so shabbily. Nothing more needs to be said on that witch hunt against Anuja Prabhudessai by the powers to be. The facts are known to all and more so to the architects of that ruthless treatment meted out to Anuja Prabhudessai that put the entire judicial system to shame. When we ponder on the injustice that was done to an upright and honest Judge Anuja Prabhudessai, one is reminded of the observation made by the then Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court comprising Chief Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan and Justice A L Dave which said 'Judges are at times poor judges of Judges' especially in Judicial administration. This observation came while setting aside the decision of a Disciplinary Committee of the High Court to dismiss S J Pathak an Additional Sessions Judge in Gujarat on charges of misconduct. In that landmark judgment, while setting aside the dismissal of Pathak, the Bench ordered that Judge Pathak be reinstated forthwith and be entitled to all service benefits. It was also directed that Judge Pathak be paid costs of Rs 15,000 towards legal expenses incurred by him. While for Judge Pathak the journey to get Justice took ten long years, the only consolation is that it did not take Anuja Prabhudessai.that long. While Anuja Prabhudessai along with her family must have gone though the anguish in facing all that indignation and humiliation, her delayed elevation to the High Court has finally seen the light of the day. While we congratulate and wish Anuja Prabhudessai all the very best, may she always have the strength, courage and commitment to continue her voyage of dispensing justice without fear or favour. May she be always inspired by those words of Caroline Kennedy "The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing". Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
