Justice Sharad Bobde takes oath as 47th Chief Justice of India

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn-in on Monday as the 47th Chief Justice (CJI), succeeding Justice Ranjan Gogoi. He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi on October 18 had written a letter to the Central government recommending Justice Bobde as his successor. Justice Bobde is the second senior-most judge of the apex court. As per tradition, the sitting Chief Justice has to write and recommend the name of his successor to the government. 

Born in Nagpur on April 24, 1956, Justice Bobde is a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He is also serving as the Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai and Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. He graduated from city’s SFS College and studied Law at Nagpur University.

63-year-old Justice Bobde was enrolled on the role of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978 and became a senior advocate in 1998. Justice Bobde was appointed as an additional judge of Bombay High Court in 2000. He joined as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2012 and was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2013. 

Justice Bobde was part of the five-judge constitution bench hearing the longest-running Ayodhya land dispute case. He was part of the in-house panel which has handled the controversial case related to allegations of sexual harassment against CJI Gogoi, and gave him a clean chit, saying “no substance” was found in the allegation levelled by a former employee. 

Justice Bobde will serve this post for around 18 months and retire on April 23, 2021.

Justice Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, took charge on October 3, 2018, and demitted office on Sunday.

(With agency inputs)