New Delhi: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Justice of India. He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall. Justice Bobde, 63, the 47th Chief Justice of India, will serve till April 23, 2021 — a tenure of over 17 months, or 522 days to be precise.
In a first, CJI Bobde shared the dais in courtroom number one with Chief Justice of Jamaica, Bryan Sykes, and senior-most judge of Bhutan’s Supreme Court, Justice Kuenlay Tshering.
Seated with Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, CJI Bobde started holding the court at 11.30 am. The first mentioning before the bench was for a plea for an urgent hearing on the bail of jailed former finance minister P. Chidambaram. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal made the mentioning.
Soon after taking the oath, he sought the blessings of his mother by touching her feet. She was brought to the president house on a stretcher.
Several former chief justices of the Supreme Court, including R.M. Lodha, T.S. Thakur and J.S. Kehar, attended the ceremony. Former CJI Gogoi walked up to Union ministers and leaders at the gathering and shook hands with them.
