Chief Justice Recommends To Centre Justice Bobde As Successor: Sources

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has written to government recommending Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as his successor, say sources.

Justice Gogoi, in his letter, has reportedly recommended that the government start the process of appointing Justice SA Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Bobde is number 2 in seniority after Justice Gogoi.

Justice Bobde is a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He is due to retire on 23 April 2021.

Born on 24 April 1956 at Nagpur, Maharashtra, Justice Bobde studied in the Nagpur University. He joined the Bombay High Court in 2000 as additional judge. In 2012, he became Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

He was elevated to the Supreme Court in April, 2013. He has been involved in top cases before the Supreme Court, including the Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute, the BCCI case and petitions against firecrackers.

Justice Gogoi, sworn in as Chief Justice on 3 October 2018, will retire on November 17.

The Chief Justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge as his successor a month before his retirement, said official sources.

Justice Bobde, who will be sworn in as Chief Justice on November 18, will have a tenure of about 18 months.

According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, the "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office". After receiving the Chief Justice's recommendation, the Law Minister puts it before the Prime Minister, who then communicates this to the President.