In an unprecedented move, a judge of the Bombay High Court resigned in an open courtroom on Friday. What prompted Justice Rohit Deo, who presides over a court in the Nagpur bench of the HC, to tender the resignation is not yet known.
Justice Deo also discharged the board for the day.
“Those who are present in the court...I apologise to each one of you. I scolded you because I wanted you to improve. I do not want to hurt any of you because you all are like a 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 reportedly said in court.
However, speaking to reporters, Justice Deo said he had quit due to “personal reasons” and sent his resignation letter to the President of India.
In October last year, Justice Deo, who was part of a division bench, had acquitted quitted wheelchair-bound former Delhi University professor and activist G N Saibaba (56), who was arrested more than eight years ago for alleged links with Maoists.
Recently, he stayed the operation of a Government Resolution (GR) through which the state government was empowered to cancel all punitive proceedings initiated by the revenue department related to the illegal excavation of minor minerals carried out by contractors engaged in construction or execution work of Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg.