Justice
Rohit Deo of the Bombay High Court (HC) tendered his resignation from office
and announced the same in open court on Friday, reported Bar and Bench.
He was set to retire on December 4, 2025.
Making
the announcement in his courtroom in Nagpur, where the high court has a bench,
Justice Deo said that he could not compromise on self-respect, according to a
lawyer who was present.
Justice Deo also
apologised in court and stated that he holds no grudges against anyone and that
he is sorry if he had hurt anyone. He told lawyers that he wants them to keep
working hard and apologised for being strict with them on certain occasions.
Justice
Rohit Deo was appointed as additional judge of the Bombay HC on June 5, 2017.
Later he was made a permanent judge on April 12, 2019.
He
was also the assistant solicitor general, representing the central government
at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, and the advocate general of
Maharashtra.
Justice Deo had recently
passed two verdicts in which he had stayed a Government Resolution (GR)
pertaining to contractors of the Samruddhi Expressway and acquitted Delhi
University professor GN Saibaba, who was sentenced for alleged Maoist links.
In October of last year,
a bench led by Justice Deo acquitted sacked Delhi University professor GN
Saibaba, declaring the trial proceedings in a Gadchiroli court “null and void”
due to the absence of valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act. Saibaba had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 over alleged
Maoist links.