Judge Siraj Desai is adamant: he will be back on the Bench in South Africa.
'I don't want to sue them for damages'

"The incident won't affect my career," Desai said in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, where he is out on bail on a charge of raping compatriot Salome Isaacs.

Desai, 53, said that after the few weeks of leave he would return to work as normal.

When asked if he would consider taking any legal action against Isaacs for accusing him of rape and later withdrawing her complaint, Desai said he did not wish to sue for defamation. "I don't want to sue them for damages; they don't have anything as it is."

'I don't want to sue them for damages'
The Cape high court judge was due to catch a flight for home at 2.30am on Sunday after Judge ML Tahaliyani granted him bail on Friday and ordered that his passport be returned. He was to fly to Johannesburg before catching a connection to Cape Town, where he is due at 11.10am on Sunday.

However, legal sources said that the police were still pursuing the case against Desai, who would have to return to India when the trial began on a date yet to be decided. Without a complainant, they saw little chance of Desai being convicted.

And South African legal experts contacted by The Sunday Independent agreed that Desai should be able to resume his position on the Bench. A high court judge, who did not wish to be named, said whatever happened between Desai and Isaacs in India would have no reflection on his professional competencies.

"I cannot see any impediment to his resuming his duties," the judge said.

Nigel Meintjies, a Cape Town attorney, said Desai should be allowed to return to the Bench as he was not found guilty of any crime. "Desai is a prominent member of the legal fraternity and must be allowed to get on with his duties. However, until the whole matter is cleared with the Indian authorities, he should not be allowed to preside over cases relating to sexual offences," he said.

After being freed after five days in police cells, Desai said he wanted to go home to "soften the blow" his family had gone through.

But had the case not raised such a storm of publicity, he could have spent months if not years behind bars awaiting a bail hearing.

A spokesperson for the South African consulate-general said that Indian law proceeded slowly and "this is a record, the time whereby the applicant received bail".

He denied that pressure from the South African government had pushed Desai's bail application forward.

"There was a lot of pressure for the judicial system to speed up the case and it was the media [both in India and South Africa] that indirectly placed this pressure on the judiciary."

Just hours after his release from police custody, Desai was back at the Taj President Hotel being bombarded by journalists. He refused to talk about what had happened in his hotel room when he was visited by Isaacs, 26, at about 3am last Sunday.

Isaacs said she went there to discuss the day's programme, but that the two had ended up "kissing" after which she "wanted him to back off, but he continued".

Both were delegates to the World Social Forum, and Isaacs withdrew her allegation after flying back to South Africa with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who had visited Desai in jail.

Madikizela-Mandela did not return phone calls on Saturday to expand on her role in resolving the drama.

"This thing has been a traumatic experience for me and my entire family and I do not intend to discuss the merits of the case," Desai said.

"I first want to go back to Cape Town and soften the blow that my family has gone through. I am deeply indebted to the people of South Africa who stood behind me and also the consul-general of South Africa [Pieter Coetzee] who himself has been here," Desai said.

"I am also indebted to the lawyers in India who got me out as soon as possible," the judge said, adding that he was reluctant to discuss the charge of rape that got him five days in a police lock-up.

Desai said it had been the longest week of his life. But he broke into laughter about his first court appearance, about how he was mistaken for just another Indian citizen and ignored by the Indian media. His accuser Salomie Isaacs was instead bombarded by the full force of the media interest.

In the chief metropolitan magistrate's court he created a bit of a stir.

"They make you stand in a queue and the magistrate doesn't talk to you, he talks to his typist, people are totally ignored," Desai said.

As a suspect he was made to stand at the side of the court with other suspects.

"I put up my hand and disrupted the court," Desai said, chuckling.

"He said it was the first time anyone had disrupted his court. I said: 'Your honour, this is undignified.' And he said: 'Yes, okay, you are a judge, you can sit over here'."

But not everything was funny and Desai said at first it was strange to him that he hadn't been formally arrested, but was still remanded into police custody. He also couldn't initially understand why he wasn't allowed to apply for bail immediately. But his court appearance and subsequent remand into police custody began what he called "the most terrifying night of my life" as he was searched, stripped of his possessions, including his shoes, and made to sleep on a piece of cardboard.

"The incident won't affect my career," Desai said in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, where he is out on bail on a charge of raping compatriot Salome Isaacs.

Desai, 53, said that after the few weeks of leave he would return to work as normal.

When asked if he would consider taking any legal action against Isaacs for accusing him of rape and later withdrawing her complaint, Desai said he did not wish to sue for defamation. "I don't want to sue them for damages; they don't have anything as it is."

'I don't want to sue them for damages'
The Cape high court judge was due to catch a flight for home at 2.30am on Sunday after Judge ML Tahaliyani granted him bail on Friday and ordered that his passport be returned. He was to fly to Johannesburg before catching a connection to Cape Town, where he is due at 11.10am on Sunday.

However, legal sources said that the police were still pursuing the case against Desai, who would have to return to India when the trial began on a date yet to be decided. Without a complainant, they saw little chance of Desai being convicted.

And South African legal experts contacted by The Sunday Independent agreed that Desai should be able to resume his position on the Bench. A high court judge, who did not wish to be named, said whatever happened between Desai and Isaacs in India would have no reflection on his professional competencies.

"I cannot see any impediment to his resuming his duties," the judge said.

Nigel Meintjies, a Cape Town attorney, said Desai should be allowed to return to the Bench as he was not found guilty of any crime. "Desai is a prominent member of the legal fraternity and must be allowed to get on with his duties. However, until the whole matter is cleared with the Indian authorities, he should not be allowed to preside over cases relating to sexual offences," he said.

After being freed after five days in police cells, Desai said he wanted to go home to "soften the blow" his family had gone through.

But had the case not raised such a storm of publicity, he could have spent months if not years behind bars awaiting a bail hearing.

A spokesperson for the South African consulate-general said that Indian law proceeded slowly and "this is a record, the time whereby the applicant received bail".

He denied that pressure from the South African government had pushed Desai's bail application forward.

"There was a lot of pressure for the judicial system to speed up the case and it was the media [both in India and South Africa] that indirectly placed this pressure on the judiciary."

Just hours after his release from police custody, Desai was back at the Taj President Hotel being bombarded by journalists. He refused to talk about what had happened in his hotel room when he was visited by Isaacs, 26, at about 3am last Sunday.

Isaacs said she went there to discuss the day's programme, but that the two had ended up "kissing" after which she "wanted him to back off, but he continued".

Both were delegates to the World Social Forum, and Isaacs withdrew her allegation after flying back to South Africa with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who had visited Desai in jail.

Madikizela-Mandela did not return phone calls on Saturday to expand on her role in resolving the drama.

"This thing has been a traumatic experience for me and my entire family and I do not intend to discuss the merits of the case," Desai said.

"I first want to go back to Cape Town and soften the blow that my family has gone through. I am deeply indebted to the people of South Africa who stood behind me and also the consul-general of South Africa [Pieter Coetzee] who himself has been here," Desai said.

"I am also indebted to the lawyers in India who got me out as soon as possible," the judge said, adding that he was reluctant to discuss the charge of rape that got him five days in a police lock-up.

Desai said it had been the longest week of his life. But he broke into laughter about his first court appearance, about how he was mistaken for just another Indian citizen and ignored by the Indian media. His accuser Salomie Isaacs was instead bombarded by the full force of the media interest.

In the chief metropolitan magistrate's court he created a bit of a stir.

"They make you stand in a queue and the magistrate doesn't talk to you, he talks to his typist, people are totally ignored," Desai said.

As a suspect he was made to stand at the side of the court with other suspects.

"I put up my hand and disrupted the court," Desai said, chuckling.

"He said it was the first time anyone had disrupted his court. I said: 'Your honour, this is undignified.' And he said: 'Yes, okay, you are a judge, you can sit over here'."

But not everything was funny and Desai said at first it was strange to him that he hadn't been formally arrested, but was still remanded into police custody. He also couldn't initially understand why he wasn't allowed to apply for bail immediately. But his court appearance and subsequent remand into police custody began what he called "the most terrifying night of my life" as he was searched, stripped of his possessions, including his shoes, and made to sleep on a piece of cardboard.(Sourc-Sunday Independent)