A picture of former Chief Justice of India SA Bobde in a hospital bed but dressed in a suit and prepared for an arbitration session has once again brought the subject of work-life balance into the spotlight. Shared by his daughter Savitri Bobde on LinkedIn, the picture was a screenshot of a video call between the two.
SA Bobde has spent his last four weeks in hospital recovering from multiple surgeries over the past eight months, according to the post.
Savitri wrote in the caption, "Dad, almost 70 years old, ready for a week-long arbitration from his hospital bed, where he has spent the last 4 weeks, after his 4th surgery (3rd unplanned one), all in the last 8 months."
The former CJI has tubes coming out of his body and "is in pain most of the day".
"Work-life balance anyone? P.S. Still looks great, doesn't he?" she asked.
Responding to multiple comments on the post, Savitri appeared to suggest that it wasn't "possible to have balance to excel". "Like someone said, 'Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth'," she added.
When a person said he could understand what the Bobde family was going through, for his own wife was on "dialysis three times a week," Savitri said: "Yes, it's tough but things have to be done."
Legal professionals' work-life balance has long been a subject of discussion. Earlier, former CJI DY Chandrachud criticised the celebration of burnout in the legal professions.
He underlined how many lawyers take inappropriate pride in their long workdays, which can have detrimental effects on their mental health. Recounting his late wife's personal struggles negotiating the demanding atmosphere of legal practice, CJI Chandrachud argued for better working conditions and a better work-life balance.
"My late former wife who was a lawyer, when she went to a law firm, she asked what would be the working hours and she was told it is 24x7 and 365 days...When she asked what about ones with family, she was told to find a husband who can do household chores and there is no family time," he said.
Born in 1956, SA Bobde became a lawyer in 1978. After more than 21 years of practice before the Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench, he was named a Senior Advocate in 1998.
In March 2000, he was appointed a judge of the Bombay High Court, and in October 2012, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
On April 12, 2013, he was promoted to the Supreme Court, and on November 18, 2019, he took the oath of office as Chief Justice.
SA Bobde retired as CJI on April 23, 2021.
