Passion: Pune lawyer beats Cerebral palsy, mouth paralysis to become Judge

Pune, January 3, 2020: Nikhil Prasad Baji (31), a resident of Navi Peth, Pune city of Maharashtra, suffering from cerebral palsy, has made it to the civil judge and first-class judicial magistrate examination with hard work and strong will.
The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) conducts this examination.

Baji said that his family, which resides in Rambaug colony in Navi Peth, never let him realize that he had a serious illness. Baji said that after being successful in the preliminary exam and while preparing for the main examination, he suffered a stroke, which paralyzed half of his face. This made it difficult for him to study. But he achieved success through hard work.

Inspiration taken from blind friends

Nikhil joined Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) after 12th standard through the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) examination. In junior college, Nikhil had many classmates who lived away from home and were blind.

He said that when he was selected at Gujarat National Law University, it helped him to live away from home and independently.

Preparation with practice

After graduating from GNLU, he practised at Pune District Court in Shivajinagar and Debt Recovery Tribunal for five years. The Civil Judge Junior Division and First Class Judicial Magistrate examination has three stages of preliminary, mains and interview. Along with practising in the debt recovery tribunal, he also kept preparing for the preliminary exam which was held in April 2019.

Didn’t lose even after a stroke of paralysis in the face

Baji said, “I used to study for three hours every day. Since I was working in the tribunal, it helped me understand the law better than a fresher. It helped me in the exam.”

However, after being successful in the preliminary examination and preparing for the main examination, he suffered a stroke, which paralyzed half of his face.

This made it difficult for him to study. He tried to recover himself fast. He recovered with the help of physiotherapy.

“I was trying to get into the judicial service from the beginning. After graduation, I appeared in the exam, but I could not succeed. Then I decided that I will practice law for a few years, after that, I will appear in the exam again. I passed the exam in my second attempt”, Baji said.

He recalled that in childhood when other children played cricket, he became umpire as he could not play.