A young boy who once dreamed of becoming a chartered accountant has transformed into a senior advocate at the Bombay High Court, celebrating over forty years of service in the legal field.<\/p>\n
Suresh Pakale, originally from Pedhe Parshuram, a modest village in Ratnagiri\u2019s Khed taluka, had no initial intention of pursuing a career in law. His ambition was to become a chartered accountant, but life had other directions in store for him.<\/p>\n
Pakale’s childhood was filled with challenges and perseverance. He attended school in a temple before later transferring to a Zilla Parishad school, where inconsistent teaching and the absence of a bridge over the Vashishti River complicated his daily commute. To help his family financially, he sold flower garlands and lotus flowers each morning before classes. A pivotal moment in his educational journey occurred when a committed teacher, Samant Guruji, revitalized the school’s atmosphere, inspiring students to engage in their studies.<\/p>\n
Seeking better prospects, Pakale relocated to Mumbai. In 1978, he began working at the National Insurance Company. It was during this time that he unexpectedly found his path to law. While juggling a full-time job, he pursued his legal education, earning his LLB in 1980 and his LLM in 1982. He started his legal career under the mentorship of labor lawyer A J Deshmukh, navigating both financial and professional challenges. By 1985, he transitioned to the Bombay High Court, and within two years, he was managing high-profile cases under the guidance of notable figures such as Dr. Y V Chandrachud and K K Singhvi, establishing a four-decade legacy of advocating for the marginalized and achieving victories.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, Pakale undertook one of the most significant cases of his career. From 1983 to 1989, around 70,000 teachers in Maharashtra were appointed on a temporary basis through local selection committees, circumventing the legally required selection board process. When the government established six regional selection boards in February 1989 and began replacing these teachers with newly selected candidates, many livelihoods were jeopardized.<\/p>\n
Pakale initially took on a case involving 54 teachers and managed to secure a stay. Soon, teachers from across the state sought his assistance. Eventually, the Bombay High Court\u2019s Division Bench instructed the government to issue a comprehensive order rather than addressing each case separately, leading to a resolution that provided relief to all affected teachers\u2014approximately 70,000 individuals.<\/p>\n
Around the same period, he represented 153 teachers, primarily from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and backward communities, who had been appointed under a government initiative aimed at resolving teacher shortages in Pune’s remote tribal and hilly regions. This scheme allowed candidates who had completed their 12th grade to teach while obtaining their DEd qualification within five years. Unfortunately, within months, all 153 teachers were dismissed. Pakale contested the terminations in the Bombay High Court, resulting in a favorable ruling that ordered their reinstatement and permitted them time to finish their qualifications. Many of these teachers have since enjoyed long and successful careers.<\/p>\n
One of his most dramatic cases involved approximately 950 teacher candidates in Pune who had scored below the cutoff in a selection board examination and were denied appointments. Pakale submitted petitions on their behalf before Chief Justice T K Thakker and Justice Y V Chandrachud, successfully obtaining orders in their favor\u2014orders that the authorities initially refused to implement.<\/p>\n
When Pakale filed a contempt petition, he received a threatening anonymous call from someone claiming to represent a high-ranking political office, accusing him of misleading the disadvantaged, asserting that even top officials could not facilitate such appointments. Pakale responded calmly, stating, \u201cI am not granting the appointments. These are being issued under the orders of the High Court.\u201d<\/p>\n
He remained resolute, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court, where he triumphed, ensuring that all 950 candidates received their appointment orders.<\/p>\n
Supporting his professional journey is his wife, Aruna, whom he married in 1985. \u201cShe is a homemaker and has been a tremendous source of encouragement throughout my challenging career. My daughter, Gargi, resides in the United States, working in finance, while my son, Saurabh, has also chosen to pursue law,\u201d remarked Pakale.<\/p>\n
Over the past four decades, Suresh Pakale has built his career through sheer determination, achieving success one stay order, one petition, and one teacher at a time. Recently, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Teachers\u2019 Association for Non-Aided Polytechnics (TAFNAP), presented by former Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, who is also a close friend. For a man who once sold flowers at dawn to pay for his education, this recognition serves as a fitting tribute to his remarkable journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A young boy who once dreamed of becoming a chartered accountant has transformed into a senior advocate at the Bombay High Court, celebrating over forty years of service in the legal field. Suresh Pakale, originally from Pedhe Parshuram, a modest village in Ratnagiri\u2019s Khed taluka, had no initial intention of pursuing a career in law. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[78,40,149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cities","category-india","category-pune"],"yoast_head":"\n