Fifth woman judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, retires; Bar hails her as a compassionate judge

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, only the fifth woman judge in the history of the Supreme Court, retired today. She had a relatively short tenure at the Supreme Court lasting just over three years..In the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Bar hailed her as a compassionate judge. Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, SCBA President PH Parekh and SCBA Vice President V Shekhar spoke on the occasion..“Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai in two words – passion and compassion; passion towards her work and compassion towards litigants”, said SCBA Vice President V Shekhar..Chief Justice HL Dattu lauded her for her contributions in the field of victims’ rights. “Justice Desai contributed immensely to the development of law in the area of victims’ rights – a relatively ignored area of law. She leaves behind a legacy that will inspire generations to come. We are grateful for your contributions to law and judiciary”, he said..Justice Desai chose to thank the people who supported her during her legal practice and her judicial career. She also spoke about the Bombay High Court where she spent a large part of her judicial career..“There is always a great equation between the Bar and the Bench in the Bombay High Court; if judges are late to court, they say sorry”, she said..Recounting her experience at the Supreme Court, Justice Desai said that,.“This court made me realise how little I know of law; this court humbled me….you had lawyers from Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala and Orissa all speaking in their accents trying for relief in the highest court of the country. You also had that pressure while deciding a matter in the final court – that there was no scope for correction of an error made by you.”.Justice Desai, who graduated in law from the Government Law College, Bombay in 1973 started her legal practice the same year. As a lawyer, she served as Government pleader and Special Public Prosecutor before she was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court in 1996. She was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2011.