Known as ‘Gentle and kind’ judge among peers, Justice Prakash D Naik of Bombay HC retires
Born on April 30, 1962 in Goa, Justice Naik completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from St. Xavier's College, Goa in 1983, followed by LL.B from Siddharth Law College, Mumbai and LL.M from Mumbai University.
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Justice Prakash Deu Naik (File Photo)Justice Prakash Deu Naik of the Bombay High Court retired on Monday after holding the office of HC judge for eight years. Within a week’s time, the tenure of another judge of the Bombay HC came to close after Justice Gautam S Patel retired on April 25.
Justice Naik was given a full court farewell with all the judges of the HC present on Monday evening, held in a crowded central courtroom, the tradition which was recently began on Justice Gautam Patel’s retirement.
Born on April 30, 1962 in Goa, Justice Naik completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from St. Xavier’s College, Goa in 1983, followed by LL.B from Siddharth Law College, Mumbai and LL.M from Mumbai University.
After 30 years of practice as a lawyer, he was elevated to judge of Bombay HC on March 17, 2016.
While Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya called Justice Naik ‘gentleness personified,’ Advocate General Birendra Saraf termed him as ‘gentle and kind’ judge. According to others, he would ‘never lose temper’ in the courtroom and was ‘fair and just’ to everyone including junior advocates.
“Sometimes it is not possible to deliver justice by statute, and a judge is required to bend the law, but keep equity in mind and do justice,” he said while addressing farewell.
Justice Naik, while sitting at Goa bench in November, last year, observed that the welfare of a child is of paramount importance and that the father and mother cannot be branded as the enemy of the child.
In June, last year, Justice Naik granted bail to Divya Pahuja, an accused in the murder of murder of Gurgaon gangster Sandeep Gadoli, citing her incarceration for nearly seven years.
In March, 2023, he directed murder charges be framed against the three accused police officials in death of 22-year-old Altaf Kadir Shaikh at Ghatkopar police station in September 2009, A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Naik in January, last year dismissed a plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit seeking discharge from the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
In March, 2021, Justice Naik granted bail to businessman Deepak Kochhar in the alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case.
In the same month, Justice Naik granted bail to former CEO of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) Partho Dasgupta arrested in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) Scam.
In February, 2020, Justice Naik denied anticipatory bail to accused activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
With Justices Patel and Naik retired this month, until further appointments are made, Bombay HC which has sanctioned strength of 94, will function with 66 judges, including 49 permanent judges and 17 additional judges.
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