Justice Bobde Appointed As New Chief Justice Of India, Oath-Taking Ceremony On November 18

It’s Official! President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday signed the warrant appointing Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India. He will take oath as the new Chief Justice of India on November 18. On October 18, outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi had started the process of the appointment of his successor. As per the set traditions, he wrote a letter to the Central Government recommending Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India. With a tenure of eight years in Supreme Court of India, Justice Bobde was in line to be the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Bobde has served as former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He will serve as CJI till his retirement on 23 April 2021.  Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, will demit the office on November 17. The chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.

According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office". Under this process, after receiving the CJI's recommendation, the law minister puts it before the prime minister who advises the president on the matter.

Justice Bobde has been credited with judgment where the top court ruled that the lack of Aadhaar was not grounds to deprive any Indian citizen of basic services and government subsides. In 2016, he suspended the sales of firecrackers in the national capital region of Delhi on grounds of extreme air pollution.

Born on April 24, 1955 in a family of lawyers in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, the 63-year old studied in Nagpur University. His father Arvind Bobde was the advocate-general of Maharashtra and his elder brother late Vinod Arvind Bobde a renowned senior advocate of the Supreme Court. Bobde’s term as Chief Justice of India will end on April 23, 2021.