Justice Bobde Takes Oath As 47th Chief Justice Of India

NEW DELHI: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was on Monday administered oath as the 47th Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind. Justice Bobde, 63, succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi who demitted office on Sunday.

Justice Bobde will have a tenure of around 17 months and would demit office on April 23, 2021

Justice Bobde has been chosen following the rule of seniority and his name was recommended by Justice Gogoi in a letter to the Centre.

The CJI said that he believes people's reputation cannot be sacrificed just to satisfy the desire of citizens to know.

He would prefer a conservative approach on the issue of disclosing the Collegium's entire deliberations on rejection of names for appointment in the higher judiciary.

On the issue of huge vacancies of judges in courts across the country and lack of judicial infrastructure, CJI Bobde wishes to take to the "logical end" the steps taken by his predecessor Gogoi.

Justice Gogoi had taken note of vacancies and lack of infrastructure in courts and has been monitoring them by issuing directions to all states and respective high courts to do the needful.

CJI Bobde part of historic verdicts like Ayodhya, Right to Privacy

Justice Bobde, has decided several key cases and was part of the recent historic verdict that cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

A five-judge constitution bench, of which Justice Bobde was also a part, rendered a unanimous verdict to put the curtains down on the vexatious Ayodhya land dispute which was pending in courts since 1950.

A nine-judge bench of the apex court headed by the then CJI J S Khehar and which included Justice Bobde held unanimously in August 2017 that the Right to Privacy was a constitutionally protected fundamental right in India.

Justice Bobde's Warrant of Appointment was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind following which the Law Ministry issued a notification naming the judge as the next head of the Indian judiciary.

Recently, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Bobde directed the Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, appointed by it for the purpose of running the BCCI administration, to demit office paving the way for elected members to run the affairs of the cricket board.

Justice Bobde Profile

Hailing from a family of lawyers from Maharashtra, Justice Bobde is the son of eminent senior advocate Arvind Shriniwas Bobde.

Born on April 24, 1956 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Justice Bobde completed Bachelor of Arts and LLB degrees from Nagpur University. He was enrolled as an advocate of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978.

Justice Bobde practised law at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court with appearances at Bombay before the Principal Seat and before the Supreme Court for over 21 years. He was designated as senior advocate in 1998.

Justice Bobde was elevated to the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000, as Additional Judge and sworn in as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 16, 2012. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013. ( With inputs from the Agencies)

Also Read: Curtains Down For CJI Ranjan Gogoi: Historic Judgements That He Delivered