| Avinash Deobhakta | |
| Birth Name: | Avinash Ganesh Deobhakta |
| Birth Date: | 24 November 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Lahore, Punjab, British Raj |
| Death Place: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Known For: | First New Zealand judge of Indian origin |
| Mawards: | is not set --> |
Avinash Ganesh Deobhakta (24 November 1936 – 2 September 2015) was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He was the first person of Indian origin to be appointed a District Court judge in New Zealand.
Born on 24 November 1936 in Lahore (then in British India, now in Pakistan),[1] Deobhakta was educated in London, and then returned to Uganda.[2] A lawyer, he rose to become the principal state attorney in the Ugandan Department of Public Prosecutions, and was later a chief magistrate.[2] Following the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972, Deobhakta emigrated to New Zealand with his family,[3] and became a naturalised New Zealander in 1978.[1]
Settling in Auckland, Deobhakta practised as a barrister sole until his appointment as a District Court judge in 1982.[2] He was the first judge in New Zealand of Indian origin.[4] He was also chair of the Waikeria District Prisons Board, and in 2002 was appointed to the New Zealand Parole Board as a northern region panel convenor.[2]
In 1990, Deobhakta was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[5] He died in Auckland on 2 September 2015.[6]