Gujarat High Court judge dies of cardiac arrest during COVID-19 treatment

AHMEDABAD: A sitting judge of the Gujarat High Court died following a cardiac arrest on Saturday while undergoing treatment for coronavirus at a private hospital here, a doctor said.

Justice G R Udhwani (59), who had tested COVID-19 positive on November 19, died at SAL Hospital due to complications arising out of the infection, the doctor said.

He died in the morning, days after he was admitted to the hospital on November 22 in a critical condition, Dr Divyang Dalwadi, a critical care expert of the hospital, said.

"He had tested COVID-19 positive on November 19, and was admitted to the hospital with severe lung infection. He was also suffering from hypothyroidism," the doctor said.

"He suffered a cardiac arrest at 7 am on Saturday and was declared dead at 7.40 am," Dalwadi said.

He had been on ventilator support since December 3 after his oxygen requirement increased, and was administered Remdesivir and Tocilizumab injections and plasma therapy during the course of treatment, the doctor said.

Justice Udhwani, who hailed from Ahmedabad, was elevated as the Additional Judge of Gujarat High Court on November 12, 2012, after being appointed as the Registrar General between June 2011 and November 2012.

He was confirmed as Permanent Judge on July 10, 2014.

Justice Udhwani had joined the legal profession in 1987 and practised in the high court before being appointed as a judge in city civil court in February 1997.

He had also served as Gujarat High Court registrar on two occasions, first as registrar (legal) and then as registrar (infrastructure and IT).

Before that, he had served as in-charge Registrar General of Gujarat High Court between February and June 2011.

He was then elevated to the post of additional judge of the high court.

In his career spanning over three decades, Justice Udhwani had also served as an additional judge of special POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) court in 2003.