Justice Hosbet Suresh dies

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Justice Hosbet Suresh dies

Appointed a permanent Judge of the Bombay High Court on June 12, 1987, Justice Suresh had retired on 19 July 1991

Friday June 12, 2020 11:20 AM, ummid.com News Network

Mumbai: Justice Hosbet Suresh, former judge of the Bombay High Court who later became renowned as "a fierce fighter for human rights" died on Thursday. He was 90.

Justice Suresh, who had led a number of commissions that investigated violations of human rights, was born in Hosabet or Hosabettu, Surathkal, Karnataka on 20 July 1929.

Appointed a permanent Judge of the Bombay High Court on June 12, 1987, Justice Suresh had retired on 19 July 1991.

Justice Suresh along with Justice Tiwatia was appointed in December 1991 to investigate the Kaveri Riots in Bangalore.

Justice Suresh and Siraj Mehfuz Daud were appointed by the Indian People's Human Rights Commission to investigate post-Babri Masjid demolition riots in Bombay in December 1992 and January 1993. They indicted the police, the government and political leaders in their 1993 report titled The People's Verdict.

Justice Suresh was also member of Indian People's Tribunal (IPT) fact-finding team headed by former Supreme Court of India judge V. R. Krishna Iyer formed to probe 2002 Gujarat riots. The tribunal gathered 2,094 oral and written testimonies and met with many senior police officers and government officials. Findings were documented in their report "Crime Against Humanity".

'A passionate advocate of human rights'

Condoling his death, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in a statement said, "We will truly miss him. We condole his family members and his near and dear ones. We should all carry on his legacy and be infected by his passion for human rights."

"I remember his words when Majlis, CSSS, People’s Watch and another organization organized a function to felicitate him for his contribution to human rights. He said, “25 years after my retirement, I am still energetic and will carry on struggle for human rights till I can”, Irfan Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, recalled.

"A very humble person, a passionate advocate of human rights, he was always there whenever we at CSSS needed him. There was never a ‘no’ from him, no matter how localized and small scale the meeting was. At a public event he confessed that he can never say no when approached by CSSS for any of its meetings", Engineer said.

"Justice Suresh spoke brilliantly and espoused the cause of human rights of the marginalized with his wide experience and knowledge. He always sounded very convincing. His book on human rights is still in our library and he had gifted a copy to us", he said.

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