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 will serve as CJI for around 18 months and retire on April 23, 2021.
Born in Nagpur on April 24, 1956, he completed his graduation and obtained a law degree from Nagpur University. He was enrolled on the roll of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978 and was designated as Senior Advocate in 1998.
His career as judge began on March 29, 2000 when he was appointed as Additional Judge in the Bombay High Court, and he rose to become Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 16, 2012.
He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013.
Justice Bobde was part of the five-judge constitution bench hearing the longest running Ayodhya land dispute case. He was part of the in-house panel which has handled the controversial case related to allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice Gogoi, and gave him a clean chit, saying "no substance" was found in the allegation levelled by a former employee.
Justice Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, took charge on October 3, 2018 and demitted office on Sunday.