NAGPUR: Justice Yanshivraj Khobragade’s rise from the dusty fields of Vidarbha to hallowed courtrooms of Bombay HC reflects power of resilience and making the best of available opportunity. Born on May 9, 1966 in Rengepar, a tribal village in Maharashtra’s Bhandara, his journey spells overcoming systemic barriers through grit, education, and acts of kindness.
Rengepar had no electricity or proper roads then. Justice Khobragade’s early life was defined by scarcity and survival. His father Gopichand and mother Anuradha were unlettered, yet they instilled a desire for education in their eight children. “I remember collecting firewood to pay school fees of 40 paise,” Justice Khobragade recalls. Despite walking miles barefoot to school, balancing academic pursuits with menial jobs to support his family, and working in agricultural fields during vacations, his quest for education never waned.
His journey was not without setbacks. Failing English in Class 12 left him crestfallen. “Dr Ambedkar’s words, ‘Education is the milk of a tigress’, kept me going,” he told TOI. He cleared his exams and pursued higher education. In Oct 1984, during a desperate search for work, fortune found him in the form of Rameshwar, driver for advocate general Arvind Bobde. The chance encounter led to a job as a garden labourer at Bobde’s residence.
Bobde, impressed by Khobragade’s humility and determination, offered him clerkship in his legal office. “That moment changed the trajectory of my life,” he said.
Under the mentorship of Bobde and his son Sharad, who later went on to become CJI, Khobragade completed BCom while working, and then pursued LLB degree from Nagpur University. He soon began practising law under Sharad and later with Justice Anil Kilor.
In 2008, Khobragade cleared the competitive district judiciary examination, and was appointed a civil judge in Mumbai. He subsequently became district judge in Chandrapur and registrar of Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal. On Oct 7, 2022, he was sworn in as the judge of Bombay HC. “This milestone is not just mine, it’s a message to every underprivileged child that dreams do come true,” he said.
Recently honoured by Bhandara Bar Association, his story was celebrated by legal luminaries.