“Justice could never be instant and it would lose its character as justice if it became revenge” {inaugural speech at opening of Rajasthan High Court’s new building}
Being the current Chief Justice of India, he also serves as the Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai; the University of Delhi and Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. He has a tenure of eight years in the Supreme Court of India and is due to retire on 23 April 2021.
2019:
Justice Bobde, played a historic role being a member of the five-judge constitutional bench which heard and delivered the judgment dated November 9, 2019, on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. The bench unanimously ordered the construction of a Hindu Temple in the disputed site, while ruling that the Demolition of the Babri Masjid and the 1949 desecration of the Babri Masjid were in violation of the law.
A three-judge bench attenuated a convict’s death penalty to life imprisonment on appeal. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh had sentenced the appellant to death owing to a woman’s death while being out on bail for another offence. Justice Bobde applied the principle of Bachchan Singh and held that, mitigating circumstances in the case prevented it from meeting the ‘rarest of rare’ requirements.
2017:
A nine-judge bench unanimously affirmed the fundamental right to privacy, thereby giving birth to a commendable judgement. The Supreme Court held that the right to privacy cannot impinge without a just, fair, and reasonable law. Justice Bobde authored a separate concurring opinion through which he acknowledged privacy as a natural right residing in multiple fundamental rights, with its core in the right to life and clearing the air stating the Aadhaar to be fair, just and reasonable restriction on privacy.
A seven-judge bench held that the bar against appealing to communal sentiments for electoral votes is augmented to both the voters and the candidates. Justice Bobde authored a separate concurring opinion highlighting the fact that there is no bar against the purposive interpretation of penal statutes. He stated that purposive interpretation can be used for penal provisions when the legislative intent is defeated by plain interpretation.
The Division bench led by The CJI rejected a woman’s plea to terminate a foetus afflicted with Down syndrome.
He sustained and upheld the Karnataka Government’s ban on a book by Mate Mahadevi for outraging the religious feelings of Lord Basavanna’s followers.
2016:
A nine-judge bench upheld the validity of a state entry tax on goods entering from other states. Justice Bobde being a part of the seven-judge majority held that it was constitutional for states to impose taxes on goods imported from other states to protect local goods from undue discrimination.
On 11 November, then Chief Justice Thakur and Justices Bobde and Sikri ordered a ban on the sale and stocking of firecrackers.
2013:
Justices Bobde and Chauhan issued an interim order, declaring that no Indian citizen could be deprived of basic services and government subsidies for the lack of an Aadhaar card.
Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde is the son of Arvind Bobde, who was a former Advocate General of Maharashtra. Chief Justice Bobde practiced in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court for over 21 years before he was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1998.
Chief Justice Bobde was appointed as an Additional Judge to the Bombay High Court as on 29th March 2000 and 12 years later, on 16 October 2012 he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The Chief Justice then succeeded CJI Ranjan Gogoi and became the 47th Chief Justice of India on 18th November 2019.
Best Platform for Legal Professionals