When Justice Bobde wanted actor Shah Rukh Khan to mediate in Ayodhya case

Justice Bobde was part of the five-judge Constitution bench which unanimously delivered Ayodhya case verdict in favour of temple

Chief Justice of India S A Bobde wanted to rope in actor Shah Rukh Khan to play the role of a mediator to resolve the protracted Ayodhya issue.

This was disclosed by Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh on Friday during his speech at a virtual ceremony held to bid farewell to the 47th CJI.

Singh said that it was Justice Bobde who had insisted for an amicable settlement of the matter and he wanted to take the help of popular actor Khan but it could not finally materialise.

Justice Bobde demitted the office of the CJI after 43 years in the legal profession. He rose to occupy the highest judicial seat from a lawyer in Nagpur after being judge of the Bombay High Court and the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was elevated to the top court on April 12, 2013 and assumed the office of CJI on November 17, 2019.

Read: S A Bobde ends his Chief Justice duties 'satisfied', feels he did his best

Justice Bobde's 17-month-long tenure as CJI was marred by the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic which forced the Supreme Court to switch to the virtual mode of hearing to take up cases since March 2020.

Justice Bobde, in his stint as head of the Collegium of five senior most judges, could not make a single recommendation for appointment of judges in the top court, though there are at present five vacancies. Some attributed this to the lack of consensus on elevation of Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil Kureshi. However, the Collegium made recommendation for appointment of over 240 judges in various High Courts.

Justice Bobde was criticised by some senior advocates for failing to act on time when hundreds of migrants returned on foot on imposition of nationwide lockdown in March 2020. He was part of the five-judge Constitution bench which unanimously delivered Ayodhya case verdict in favour of temple. During his tenure, he always preferred to appoint experts' panel to resolve intricate legal matters.