->Ira Leviton at 16:18, 28 November 2021

2021-11-28T16:18:06Z

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{{Short description|Indian judge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
'''Anuja Prabhudessai''' (born 8 February 1962) is a judge of the Bombay High Court, in Maharashtra, India. She is the first woman from [[Goa]] to be a High Court judge in India.

== Life ==
Prabhudessai was born in [[Mapusa]], [[Goa]]. She studied English literature and law, and joined the bar in 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Anuja Prabhudessai|url=http://northgoacourts.nic.in/anuja.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-08|website=North Goa Courts, Government of Goa}}</ref>

== Judicial career ==
Prabhudessai practiced law in Goa, including at the Goa bench of the Bombay of High Court. She became a Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate (First class) in 1991, and was appointed as the Principal District and Sessions Judge in Panaji, Goa, in 2012. She also presided over the North Goa Children's Court and Legal Services Authority.<ref name=":0" />

In 2010, Prabhudessai was suspended from her position on the grounds that she had committed in an irregularity in awarding compensation to a petitioner in a motor vehicles accident claim. She was cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated by the Bombay High Court in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 22, 2010|title=High court issues order reinstating senior judge {{!}} Goa News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/High-court-issues-order-reinstating-senior-judge/articleshow/7141919.cms|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Kamat|first=Prakash|date=2014-03-02|title=First Goan woman judge in Bombay High Court|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/first-goan-woman-judge-in-bombay-high-court/article5743214.ece|access-date=2020-10-08|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Lawyers' associations in Goa protested her suspension, and a delegation was planned, to meet the High Court and demand her reinstatement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 18, 2010|title=Lawyers seek justice for dismissed district judge|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Lawyers-seek-justice-for-dismissed-district-judge/articleshow/5586165.cms|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

In 2013, a judge of the Bombay High Court charged Prabhudessai with the offence of [[Contempt of court in India|contempt of court]] in relation to her refusal to grant bail in a case concerning the offence of murder. Although an inquiry officer appointed by the High Court cleared her of any wrongdoing, the Bombay High Court confirmed the finding of contempt. The Supreme Court of India allowed an appeal by Prabhudessai and removed certain comments made by the High Court, about her performance as a judge, from the record. The case was dismissed, with the Court issuing some guidelines to the Sessions Court on granting bail.<ref>{{Cite web|date=9 January 2013|title=Anuja Prabhudessai v State of Goa|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/162973350/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Indian Kanoon}}</ref>

In March 2014, Prabhudessai became the first woman from Goa to be appointed as a judge of a High Court, joining the Bombay High Court as an Additional Judge.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Former Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Justice (Retd) Gurudas D Kamat felicitating Justice Anuja Prabhudessai on becoming Judge of the Bombay High court.|url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/former-chief-justice-of-the-gujarat-high-court-justice-(retd)-gurudas-d-kamat-felicitating-justice-anuja-prabhudessai-on-becoming-judge-of-the-bombay-high-court/63236|access-date=2020-10-08|website=oHeraldo}}</ref>

== Notable cases ==
In 2013, Prabhudessai was the judge in the widely reported case against journalist and author [[Tarun Tejpal]], who had been arrested for sexual assault. She rejected Tejpal's plea for anticipatory bail, and allowed Goa Police to arrest him.Prabhdessai also censured Tejpal's lawyers for disclosing the identity of the complainant.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tejpal denied bail, arrested|url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Panjim/tejpal-denied-bail-arrested/72810|access-date=2020-10-08|website=oHeraldo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tarun Tejpal granted interim bail, lawyers slammed in court|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/tarun-tejpal-granted-interim-bail-lawyers-slammed-in-court-542833|access-date=2020-10-08|website=NDTV.com}}</ref> The case is ongoing in Goa, with a different judge at present.

In 2017, Prabhudessai and another judge, Ranjit More, criticised the Maharashtra State Government for failing to establish a functional [[Police Complaints Authority (India)|Police Complaints Authority]] despite [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] directions to do so. Senior government officials were summoned to court to account for this failure, and directions were given to the State Government to ensure that the Complaints Authority would function properly.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 11, 2017|title=Police complaints body only on paper, HC pulls up Maharashtra {{!}} Mumbai News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/police-complaints-body-only-on-paper-hc-pulls-up-state/articleshow/58135516.cms|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Prabhudessai and another judge, Dipankar Datta, ordered an investigation into the conduct of the [[Mumbai Police]] after they admitted that four policemen had assaulted a suspect, resulting in his death.<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 17, 2020|first=Rosy|last=Sequeira|title=Death of man due to police 'excesses': Set up SIT within 24 hrs, HC directs Mumbai CP|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/death-of-man-due-to-police-excesses-set-up-sit-within-24-hrs-hc-directs-mumbai-cp/articleshow/77592872.cms|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

In 2017, Prabhudessai and another judge, Abhay Oka, ruled that a [[Government of Maharashtra|Maharashtra Government]] policy framed to allow the government to grant post-facto approvals to illegal constructions was unlawful.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-24|title=HC sets aside Maha govt's policy to regularise illegal bldgs|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-hc-sets-aside-maha-govt-s-policy-to-regularise-illegal-bldgs-2367153|access-date=2020-10-08|website=DNA India|language=en}}</ref> Prabhudessai and Oka also set aside a Maharashtra Government policy that made the knowledge of the [[Marathi language]] mandatory for the grant of a permit to operate a [[rickshaw]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-01|title=Bombay HC sets aside Maharashtra Govt. order on compulsory Marathi for auto-rickshaw drivers|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bombay-hc-sets-aside-maharashtra-govt-order-on-compulsory-marathi-for-auto-rickshaw-drivers-2339217|access-date=2020-10-08|website=DNA India|language=en}}</ref> In May 2017, Prabhudessai and Okay directed the Government of India to establish nodal officers who would be responsible for transmitting and serving notices from Indian courts and proceedings to persons outside India. The order criticized the Government of India for failing to systematically communicate these notices to the parties in cases, in a timely manner.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-05-11|title=Bombay HC directs Centre to appoint nodal officers for overseas notices, orders|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-directs-centre-to-appoint-nodal-officers-for-overseas-notices-orders-4650322/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> In 2017, they also directed the Maharashtra Government to ensure that vacancies in state forensic laboratories were filled, noting the impact that these vacancies had in delivering justice in criminal cases.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-19|title=Set deadline to fill up posts in forensic labs, Bombay High Court tells state|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/set-deadline-to-fill-up-posts-in-forensic-labs-bombay-high-court-tells-state-4480869/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

In 2018, Prabhudessai and another judge, N.H. Patil, allowed a 13-year-old child who had survived assault and rape to terminate the resulting pregnancy. Under the Indian [[Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971)|Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act]], the termination of pregnancy is prohibited after 20 weeks of gestation. The Court made an exception in this case, after seeking advice from a medical board on the impact of the pregnancy on the physical and mental health of the child. Prabhudessai and Patil directed the State Government to clarify if there were specific guidelines to address the termination of pregnancies in cases like this.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 9, 2018|title=Mumbai: HC allows 13-year-old rape victim to terminate pregnancy|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mumbai-hc-allows-13-year-old-rape-victim-to-terminate-pregnancy/articleshow/63684017.cms|access-date=2020-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhudessai, Anuja}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Mapusa]]
[[Category:Judges of the Bombay High Court]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian judges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women judges]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian judges]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women judges]]

Anuja Prabhudessai - Revision history

->Ira Leviton at 16:18, 28 November 2021