New Delhi: Justice SA Bobde was on November 18, 2019, sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India (CJI), a day after the retirement of Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Justice SA Bobde was administered the oath of office of Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind. According to a statement, President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office of Chief Justice of India to Justice Bobde at 9.30 am.
Justice Bobde will serve as the CJI for one year and five months till April 23, 2021. Outgoing Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on October 18 had recommended Justice Bobde, the second senior-most judge of the apex court, as his successor.
Justice Bobde, 63, is the fourth judge from Maharashtra to hold the country’s highest judicial post. Earlier, Justice Prahlad Gajendragadkar, the seventh CJI, held office from 1964 to 1966, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah, the 11th CJI, held office from 1968 to 1970, and Justice Y V Chandrachud, the 16th Chief Justice of India, served from 1978 to 1985.
#WATCH Delhi: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde takes oath as the 47th Chief Justice of India. He succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi. pic.twitter.com/Spb5Eys5KS
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2019
In the last two years, Justice Bobde has been part of three historical judgments of the Supreme Court. On November 9 this year, he was part on the five-judge constitution bench that delivered a unanimous verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Justice Bobde was also part of the nine-judge SC bench which had, in August 2017, unanimously held that the Right to Privacy was a constitutionally protected fundamental right in India. He was also part of the three-judge bench that clarified that no Indian citizen should be deprived of basic services and government subsidies because they did not have an Aadhaar card.
