Justice Alpesh Y Kogje said he owed his professional journey to the Gujarat High Court and spoke with unusual emotion about his attachment to the institution.“I have to attribute everything I am today to this great institution.” With those words, Justice Alpesh Y Kogje on Wednesday bid farewell to the Gujarat High Court, where he started out as a lawyer under the mentorship of Additional Solicitor-General of India S V Raju, among others.An alumnus of Vadodara’s Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Kogje went to the Madhya Pradesh High Court as the chief justice, weeks after being part of the bench that upheld 38 death sentences in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case. He took the oath as the chief justice on Thursday.Speaking at his farewell, Justice Kogje looked back on a journey that began in lawyers’ chambers in Vadodara and eventually brought him to the bench of the Gujarat High Court, where he would go on to be part of several significant and sensitive cases. The central government last week notified his appointment as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.Justice Kogje said he owed his professional journey to the Gujarat High Court and spoke with unusual emotion about his attachment to the institution. “I have to attribute everything I am today to this great institution. I believe in rebirth, so I pray to God also that in my next birth let me be associated with this institution only and no other,” he said.Born in 1969, Justice Kogje completed his law degree in 1993 from MSU’s Faculty of Law and began practising that year. He later served as an assistant government pleader and an additional public prosecutor and held several important assignments, including as the special public prosecutor for a Special Investigation Team. He also handled many significant matters arising out of the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Justice Kogje was appointed an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in April 2016 and was confirmed as a permanent judge in March 2018.For the young members of the Bar, Justice Kogje had a simple message: treat the court as more than a workplace. “Please treat this institution as your second home. This is where you will draw your strength, reputation and maybe a path for your next generation,” he said.Recalling his early years in the profession, Justice Kogje said his initiation into law began in the late advocate K G Chauhan’s chamber in Vadodara and later in the office of senior advocate S V Raju, who is now additional solicitor-general of India. Paying tribute to Raju, Justice Kogje described him as a “father figure” not only to himself but to several lawyers who had trained under him.Story continues below this adJustice Kogje said one of the most important lessons he learnt was to focus on his work and give his best effort rather than fall into the “negativities surrounding the profession”. He also acknowledged the support of senior members of the Bar, saying he had always experienced “hand-holding” from them.The Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case, in which Justice Kogje and Justice Samir Dave’s bench upheld the convictions in July, was among the most consequential criminal appeals heard by the high court in recent years.Thanking Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Kogje described an institution headed by a woman as an embodiment of “Shakti”—with a weapon in one hand and a flower in the other. He said he had been fortunate to play the role of the “flower” while being entrusted with important assignments, first at the Gujarat Judicial Academy and later at the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority.At both institutions, Justice Kogje said the chief justice had given him a free hand to implement his ideas, while providing close guidance. He also thanked his fellow judges, whom he described as his “extended family”, and his private secretary and staff, before expressing gratitude to his parents, family, in-laws, wife, and daughter.Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues. Expertise: Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including: Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground. Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure. Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case). Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions. Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... 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