Bombay HC judge quits, says 'can't work against self-respect'

Justice Rohit Deo, a judge of the Bombay high court, on Friday said he had resigned due to personal reasons.

Making the announcement in his courtroom -- the high court has a bench at Nagpur -- Justice Deo also said that he could not compromise on self-respect, according to a lawyer who was present. 

Following the announcement, the matters listed before him for the day stood discharged.

"Those who are present in the court, I apologise to each one of you. I scolded you because I want you to improve. I don't want to hurt anyone of you because you all are like family to me and I am sorry to tell you that I have submitted my resignation. I can't work against my self-respect. You people work hard," Justice Deo was quoted as saying in the court by the lawyer. 

Speaking to reporters later, the judge said he had quit due to personal reasons, and sent his resignation letter to the President of India.

In 2022, Justice Deo had acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, setting aside the life imprisonment awarded to him and noting that the trial proceedings were null and void in the absence of valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The Supreme Court later stayed the order and ordered the Nagpur bench of the high court to hear the case afresh.

Last week Justice Deo stayed the operation of a Maharashtra government resolution (order) of January 3 through which the state was empowered to cancel punitive proceedings initiated by the revenue department related to illegal excavation of minor minerals by contractors engaged in the construction of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway.

Deo was appointed as a judge of the Bombay high court in June 2017 and was due to retire in December 2025.

Before that, he had worked as the advocate general of Maharashtra in 2016.