Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India (CJI) in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi today. Justice SA Bobde, who succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was administered oath by President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Chief Justice Bobde will have a tenure of around 17 months and will retire on April 23, 2021.
He has been part of several key cases, including the five-judge constitution bench that passed the historic verdict that cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Chief Justice Bobde was also part of a nine-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice JS Khehar which, in a unanimous judgement in August 2017, held that the Right to Privacy was a constitutionally protected fundamental right in India.
He also chaired a three-member in-house panel which gave a clean chit to his predecessor, Chief Justice Gogoi, on a sexual harassment complaint against him by a former court staffer. The committee also included Justices Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra.
Chief Justice Bobde has been chosen following the rule of seniority and his name was recommended by Justice Gogoi in a letter to the Centre.
His 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.
Born on April 24, 1956, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Justice Bobde completed a Bachelor of Arts and LLB degrees from Nagpur University. He enrolled as an advocate of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978.
Justice Bobde practiced 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 a senior advocate in 1998.
Justice Bobde was elevated to the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000, as an 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.
Chief Justice Bobde, has succeeded Justice Ranjan Gogoi who retired on November 17 after remaining in office for over 13 months.
