Justice Bobde takes oath as 47th CJI

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bodbe, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad pose for a group photograph

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bodbe, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad pose for a group photograph

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bodbe, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad pose for a group photograph at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

 

New Delhi, November 18 (IANS) Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde on Monday was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

 

"At a ceremony held on Monday in the Durbar Hall, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. He made and subscribed to the oath of office before the President," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

 

Former 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, the 47th CJI, would be in office 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 a judge began on March 29, 2000, when he was appointed as Additional Judge in the Bombay High Court.

 

He rose to become the 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 long-running Ayodhya land dispute case.

 

He was also 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 allegations levelled by a former employee.

 

Justice Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, took charge on October 3, 2018, and demitted office on Sunday.

 

CJI touches mother''s feet after swearing-in, earns praise

 

 The gesture of Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde to touch the feet of his nonagenarian mother soon after taking oath as the 47th Chief Justice of India here on Monday elicited scores of likes on Twitter after a user posted a picture of the occasion.

Justice Bobde (63), succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi and will have a tenure of over 17 months as CJI till April 23, 2021.

Justice Bobde hails from a family of lawyers from Maharashtra. He is the son of senior advocate Arvind Shriniwas Bobde.

One user posted a picture of the new CJI and wrote: "After taking oath as Chief Justice of India, justice Bobde touched the feet of his 92-year-old wheelchair-seated mother."

In reply, a user posted: "Thats Sanskriti... Good Old Values.. Maatha-Pithaa-Guru-Daivam (Mother is Supreme). Thats what this is all about".

Another commented: "Hope the Commie Brats of JNU learn some of these values. They don''t respect their Guru and keep her hostage for 28 hours. CJI should put a lid on this JNU Den".