In the death of Senior Advocate Manohar Usgaonkar our Goa has lost a very distinguished legal luminary. The very affable and always so down to earth, Adv. Usgaonkar was a committed humanitarian with a wealth of legal knowledge.
His unique quality as an Advocate was that while he always aimed for justice, he also ensured that no injustice was done to the opponent. Manohar Usgaonkar’s various other qualities too made him standout among his contemporaries as an inspiration and mentor for many generations of law students and legal practitioners.
Having authored several books on law, Manohar Usgaonkar was a prominent jurist well versed in Portuguese law and his translation of the Portuguese laws is today useful to both lawyers as well as judges. The law library, rich with rare collections, which is focal part of his office on Panaji’s 18th June Road was always accessible to any lawyer.
It was a privilege to meet this great human being, since my days as a school student, over five decades ago.
Goa will miss an outstanding jurist and a great intellectual who was active till his last breath.
