CJI Ranjan Gogoi recommends Justice SA Bobde as his successor
On Thursday, in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Law and Justice, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi recommended Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, the senior-most judge of Supreme Court after him, as his successor. Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th CJI on October 3, 2018, will vacate the office on November 17. Here are more details.
Justice Bobde might be inducted as CJI on November 18
To note, Justice Gogoi as the CJI had a tenure of 13 months and 15 days, whereas Justice Bobde, who might be inducted as CJI on November 18, will have a tenure of about 18 months. According to the Memorandum of Procedure, "Appointment to the office of CJI should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office."
Now, Law Minister shall put the recommendation before the PM
CJI Gogoi has followed the convention by sending the said letter of recommendation. As per the prevailing conventions, the sitting CJI sends recommendation of the next senior-most judge of Supreme Court to the government, nearly one month before their retirement. Under the established procedure, the Union Law Minister puts the recommendation before the Prime Minister, who then advises the President in this regard.
CJI Gogoi worked on various significant cases during his tenure
The first person from Northeast India to hold the top position in Supreme Court, CJI Gogoi worked on several significant cases during his regime, including the recently-concluded Ayodhya land title dispute and the National Register of Citizens.
Bobde is a former Chief Justice of MP High Court
Interestingly, Justice Bobde, set to be the new CJI, enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978, after completing his LLB from Nagpur University. He practised for over 21 years at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. He has also previously served as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He is due to retire on April 23, 2021.
