Justice Bobde sworn in as 47th CJI, succeeds Gogoi

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was on Monday sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India (CJI).

He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind in a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Cabinet colleagues Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Supreme Court judges, in addition to former CJIs Ranjan Gogoi and P Sathasivam, were present on the occasion.

Immediately after the ceremony, Justice Bobde went on to touch his mother's feet, who was present at the ceremony.

After the function, he would preside over a bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, and take up listed cases for hearing.

Sixty-three-year-old Justice Bobde would have a tenure of about 17 months till April 23, 2021, as the CJI.

With Justice Bobde taking over as the CJI, the composition of the five-judge Collegium would also undergo change with the inclusion of Justice R Banumathi. The Collegium would have a task cut out to fill up to 424 vacancies of judges in 25 High Courts, out of total strength of 1079 judges.

Justice Bobde, who hails from a family of lawyers, got himself enrolled as an advocate 41 years ago. He practiced at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court before his elevation to the bench. He then moved on to become the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In 2013, he was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

In his tenure as an SC judge, he was a member of the five-judge bench that adjudicated upon the Ayodhya dispute.

He was part of the nine-judge bench that delivered the landmark verdict that made privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

He was also part of the three-judge bench in the SC, comprising J Chelameswar and C Nagappan, that ruled that no Indian citizen without an Aadhaar card could be deprived of basic services and government subsidies.

He played the role of peacekeeper between former CJI Dipak Misra and other judges when four senior-most judges, including his predecessor Justice Ranjan Gogoi, addressed a press conference on January 12, 2017, raising questions on allocation of cases.

Justice Bobde is an avid dog lover and also likes to ride bikes. Earlier this year, he reportedly fell off while riding a Harley Davidson and broke his leg.