CJI Gogoi recommends Justice Bobde as his successor

Advertisement

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday sent a letter to the Centre recommending Justice S A Bobde, who is next in seniority, as his successor.

Official sources said that Justice Gogoi wrote a letter to the ministry of law and justice recommending Justice Bobde to be the next chief justice. Official sources said the chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.

Justice Bobde enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978 after obtaining his LLB degree from Nagpur University. He practiced for over 21 years at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court and made appearances before the Principal Seat and before the Supreme Court. He was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1998 and was subsequently elevated as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in March, 2000. In April, 2013, he was elevated as a Judge of Supreme Court and will retire on April 23, 2021.

Presently, he is the second-senior most judge of the country and is also serving as the Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, both at Mumbai and Nagpur campuses.

Justice Gogoi as the Chief Justice has a tenure of 13 months and 15 days while Justice Bobde, who will be sworn in as CJI 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, “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”.

Under this process, after receiving the CJI’s recommendation, the law minister puts it before the prime minister who advises the president on the matter.