THANE BAR ASSOCIATION

The Thane District Courts' Bar Association (TDCBA), which is one of the oldest Bar Associations in the country, has a long and hallowed history of producing legal luminaries and stalwarts. The TDCBA had earlier assumed a very large territorial jurisdiction comprising of the entire Thane and Raigad Districts and some parts of Greater Bombay. Indeed, the TDCBA boasts of a galaxy of prominent civil and criminal lawyers. This Bar has produced great criminal lawyers like late Shri Prabhakar Hegde, late Shri Ramakant Ovalekar, late Shri Narhari Mauskar, late Shri Shriniwas Modak, late Shri Prabhakar Patil and the prominent civil lawyers like late Shri Madhavrao Hegde, late Shri Wamanrao Oka, late Shri Shriniwas Oka and several others. The said legacy is continued even today by the members of the TDCBA.

The contribution of this Bar to the higher judiciary is substantial. The TDCBA has given several upright and erudite judges to the higher judiciary. Justice R. G. Sindhkar, Justice P. D. Kode, Justice U. D. Salvi, Justice A. R. Joshi, Justice A. M. Dhavale, Justice A. S. Oka (now Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court), Justice S. M. Modak, Justice A. S. Gadkari are the pearls of this Bar who have made, and are making, immense contributions in the delivery of justice and evolution of law.

It is always said that a complete lawyer is one who practises in the trial courts on the civil as well as criminal side and also appears and argues matters in the High Courts. On account of its proximity to the Bombay High Court, the members of the TDCBA have always endeavoured to walk this path towards becoming a complete lawyer.

Legal legends like Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Ram Jethmalani have conducted trials in the Thane Courts and have added a feather to the cap of the TDCBA. If the past is any indication of the future, the present and future members of the TDCBA are hopeful of keeping the tradition of greatness that the TDCBA has spawned over a span of decades, for years to come.