New Delhi: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde sworn-in as the 47th Chief Justice of India on Monday. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Bobde at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Bobde succeeds CJI Ranjan Gogoi. He will have a tenure of over 17 months as the CJI and is due to retire on 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. His Warrant of Appointment was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind following which the Law Ministry issued a notification naming the judge as the next head of the Indian judiciary.
Born in Nagpur on April 24, 1956, Justice Bobde 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
A judge since 2000, Justice Bobde began his career as judge when he was appointed at the Bombay High Court as an additional judge. He was appointed as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in October 2012.
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.
