Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, 63, succeeded Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the 47th CJI on November 18.
Justice Bobde will have a tenure of over 17 months and is due to retire on April 23, 2021. He has decided several key cases and was also part of the Ayodhya verdict.
Mr. Bobde practised law at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court and was a senior advocate and additional judge there. Mr. Bobde served as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2012.
He was elevated as a Judge of Supreme Court in 2013. In April 2019, he headed the committee that looked into allegations of sexual harassment against CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
Landmark judgments
Mr. Bobde was part of a 5-member Supreme Court Bench that handled the Ayodhya land-dispute case but the committee found “no substance” in the allegations.
In March 2019, a Bench headed by Justice Bobde refused a blanket ban on firecrackers.
In August 2017, he was part of a Bench that ruled that the right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”.
In January 2017, a Bench of Justices, including Mr. Bobde, allowed a Mumbai woman for abortion in the 24th week of pregnancy, as the foetus did not have a skull.
In March 2015, a 3-member Bench, including Mr. Bobde, directed that “no person should suffer for not getting the Aadhaar card".
Interview Excerpt
In an interview with The Hindu Justice Bobde said every religion has beliefs not supported by reason.
“Every religion has its own practices which are a mystery. There are beliefs not supported by reason. Look at the very act of praying... every religion has its own way of praying and conditions for offering prayers,” Justice Bobde said.
Justice Bobde believes we live in an age where authority itself, be it of parents or Parliament, is under challenge.
He was responding to a question whether the authority of the judiciary is under “attack” from social media and online articles; and whether they have exceeded the reasonable limits of free speech.
“It is not just the judiciary... What is happening in society? There is challenge to the authority of parents, schools, Parliament. This is the age of challenging authority,” he said. “Questioning by itself is healthy, but it should not be malafide and vicious. Personal attacks on judges are uncalled for and destructive,” he said.
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