Killer waves don't spare sea-lover judge

KOLKATA: Chief judicial magistrateSuresh Kumar Joshi had his quarters on the beach on the Emerald Isles — averitable paradise, many said. Till cruel Sunday. Kumar, who hadvolunteered for the stint in the Andamans, was among the first victims of thetsunami that killed tens of thousands across Asia. But his death is not one thatgets lost in the statistics. A brilliant and devoted officer, he was respectedamong his peers and wildly popular among the islanders. When Joshi''scoffin arrived at Kolkata airport in the evening, his colleagues couldn''t holdback their tears. No one, not even his family, had expected the crowd thatgathered to pay their last respects. Almost the entire top rung of Calcutta HighCourt judges was there. Wreaths were placed on the body on behalf ofacting chief justice A.N. Roy. "He was a wonderful person," a high court judgeremarked. Joshi had been to the Andamans once earlier before serving atBanskshall court as Serampore sub-divisional judicial magistrate for two yearsafter 2002. But the tug of the islands andits people was so great that in June 2004, he grabbed the opportunity when thepost of the chief judicial magistrate of Car Nicobar fell vacant. The46-year-old judge, who has a lovely family — a wife, a son and a daughter— left Kolkata just two days before the tsunami struck.Joshi''s family said he had come for a brief visit and talked to themafter reaching Car Nicobar on December 24. Unfortunately, the house that Joshiso loved (it had a great view of the ocean) was right on the beach. He neverstood a chance. Though details of the circumstances of Joshi''s deathin the Tsunami are not known, locals said he was knocked down by a wall of wateras he came out of his house that fateful Sunday morning. "He was taken to hisquarters but he had already died," his family said. Joshi, a 1990 batch WestBengal judicial service officer, was great favourite among his colleagues.Shukla Sengupta, sub-judge at Hooghly court, and Joshi''s junior wasdevastated. "He was among the nicest human beings I''ve ever met. He earned therespect of all those who had the privilege of interacting with him. He was likea protective elder brother to me," Sengupta told TOI on Wednesday. SiddharthaRoychowdhury, secretary of the West Bengal judicial service officersassociation, and SDJM, Barasat court echoed similar feelings about hisbatchmate. "He was an excellent officer and a very close friend. Wehave lost one of our best men," Roychowdhury said. "It''s a tragic loss. He hadbeen recommended for promotion to the West Bengal Higher judicial service," ruedJustice Sadhan Gupta of Calcutta HC. The body was later taken to Joshi''sresidence at Jagaddal in North 24-Parganas.