PANAJI: Justice Gustavo Couto, the first Goan judge of the Bombay high court, passed away on Friday at 93, after a brief illness.
The departed legal luminary had a ringside view to some of the most important moments in Goa’s legal history — he was the Procurador da Republica (advocate general) till the Liberation of Goa in 1961, and also the last judicial commissioner of the state.
Long respected for both his legal acumen and integrity, Couto began his career in 1954, in the Portuguese overseas judiciary, and served in various courts in Angola and Goa. He completed his legal studies in Lisbon.
After Liberation, he served in the state judiciary in various capacities as a career judicial officer. In 1982, when the jurisdiction of the Bombay high court was extended to Goa, he served on the bench in Bombay and Goa — also as an administrative judge — till his retirement in 1990.
“Justice Couto was a great judge and a strict disciplinarian, both in court and out of it, and blazed a trail for other Goan judges to follow,” said Justice N A Britto, who served as a junior judge under Couto before being elevated as a high court judge himself. Britto also recalled the “privilege” of appearing as a young prosecutor before Couto in the 70s. “Lawyers did not dare try and outsmart him, as his intellect was razor-sharp and he tolerated no dishonesty.”
Couto is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
