Abhay Thipsay

Justice Abhay Mahadeo Thipsay (born 10 March 1955, in Bombay) was a Judge at the Bombay High Court and the Allahabad High Court.

He is the brother of the chess player Praveen Thipsay.

Among the cases he judged in his career were the Best Bakery case and the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

His media statements around these cases were controversial, too.

He won the Inter-Collegiate Chess Championship in the year 1975 and won the Bombay Senior Division Championship in the year 1977.

He has participated in the National Chess Championship Tournaments on a number of occasions, individually, as also as a member of Maharashtra Team.

He has won several prizes in Chess Tournaments at National Level.

• Enrolled as an ‘Advocate’ on the Rolls of the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa on 5th November, 1979.

Thereafter, practiced in various Civil and Criminal Courts at Mumbai.

He has also won prizes in the International Tournaments held in the year 1985, at Singapore and Malaysia.

• He was appointed as the official coach of the Indian Womens’ Chess Team and in that capacity accompanied the Indian Womens’ team abroad in International Tournaments including the Chess Olympiad, on five occasions.

• He has been conferred with ‘Dadoji Konddev Award’ by the State Government for his work as a ‘Coach’.

1. Meet Justice Abhay Mahadeo Thipsay, the judge who granted Salman Khan a bail

He is promoted from the judicial services and has seen very high-profile criminal trials at very close quarters.

For Judge Thipsay it does not matter who the person is, he genuinely practices the rule of law—bail is the rule and jail is the exception,” said a criminal lawyer who has been seeing him in court over several years.

A lesser known facet of the 60-year-old judge is that he is an expert chess player and brother of chess grandmaster Pravin Thipsay.

2. It's not just Salman Khan; 7 accused in assault case get Bombay High Court relief during first hearing of appeal

It's not just the rare case, for example that of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, where during the first hearing itself the appeal is admitted, sentence is suspended and bail is granted by the Bombay high court.

On May 5, justice Abhay Thipsay admitted an appeal by one Manoj Lohokare and six others who were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in an attempt to murder case.

The judge suspended their sentences and directed their release on bail against a bond of Rs30,000.

3. Justice Abhay Thipsay: A Daring Judge Un-afraid of Agencies

During his tenure he issued orders of the release on bail of dozens of highly educated youths who had been incarcerated for [their fake involvement in] terrorism, Maoist activities and fictitious anti-national activism.

He was not concerned with the faith of an individual.

• Appointed as ‘Metropolitan Magistrate’ in the Judicial Service of the State of Maharashtra on 26th August, 1987.

• Promoted to the Senior Branch of the Judicial Service as ‘Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’, Mumbai and ‘Additional Chief Judge’, Small Causes Court, Mumbai on 1st September, 1994.

• As an ‘Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’, handled complex trials in respect of offences/cases investigated into by C.B.I Appointed as a ‘Judge, Bombay City Civil and Sessions Court’ on 25th March, 1997.

In that capacity, handled various types of Civil Suits and Criminal Trials and also did extensive appellate work.

• Appointed as a ‘Judge of the Special Court’ under the M.C.O.C. Act, 1999 on 1st September, 2001.

In that capacity, handled several trials, which were complex, lengthy and sensitive.

• Was appointed as ‘Additional Registrar (Administration )’ on the establishment of the High Court on 01/09/2003.

• Was appointed as ‘Officer on Special Duty’ by the High Court in August, 2003 to represent the High Court in several Writ Petitions filed in the Supreme Court of India by several Judicial Officers from the State on issues of pay, seniority etc., arising out of implementation of recommendations of ‘Shetty Commission’.

This was in addition to the judicial work.

This position was held till the responsibility, of looking after the administration of the ‘Fast Track Courts at Sewree’ was entrusted in October, 2003, in addition to the judicial work.

• Was nominated by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bombay High Court as a Judge to hold re-trial of the ‘Best Bakery Case’ which was transferred from the State of Gujarat.

• Appointed as ‘Principal District and Sessions Judge, Jalgaon’ in December, 2007.

Elevated to the High Court, Bombay, as “Additional Judge” w.e.f.17th March, 2011.

• Shri Thipsay is an internationally rated Chess Player.

Shri Thipsay has made a mark in the game of Chess in various different capacities such as ‘Player’, ‘Coach’ and ‘Organizer’.

In 2018, Justice Abhay Thipsay, after his retirement, joined the Congress party.

Brief Overview of Justice Thipsay’s Life and Career