It’s after a very long time that the Indian Media Fraternity has literally fallen in love with the CJI Designate. The 47th Chief Justice of India who’d swear in by mid next month has not only come out vocal as far interacting with the journalists is concerned, but has also been very candid about his love for bikes and stretched the conversations to critical subjects like Ayodhya etc. Here’s an interesting read through on Justice Bobde!
Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, who has recently been appointed as the 47th Chief Justice of India, has heard several key cases and is currently part of a 5-judge Constitution bench in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. With legacy and strong rooted lawyers in the family from Nagpur, Maharashtra, he was also a part of a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court which in August 2017 declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right of an individual. Son of veteran lawyer Arvind Shriniwas Bobde, Justice Bobde has been chosen following the rule of seniority followed by Appointment signed by President Ram Nath Kovind which the Law Ministry issued a notification.
Born on April 24, 1956 at Nagpur in Maharashtra, Justice Bobde completed Bachelor of Arts and LLB degrees from Nagpur University. He was enrolled as an advocate of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978. Justice Bobde practised law at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court with appearances at Bombay before the Principal Seat and before the Supreme Court for over 21 years. He was designated as senior advocate in 1998. Justice Bobde was elevated to Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000, as Additional Judge and sworn in as 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.
Undoubtedly it is more of a crown of thorns than a bed of roses as the Nagpurborn judge comes in at a time where there could not be more overwhelming exchange of thoughts and opinions. Freedom of speech, a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution has tirelessly been protected over last four decades since the Emergency.
November 17 is when the second senior most judge of the apex court takes oath Justice Bobde, the second senior-most judge in the apex court, will succeed incumbent Ranjan Gogoi who will demit office on November 17. With a tenure of about 17 months Justice Bobde will be due to retire on April 23, 2021. He is also one of the judges in the Constitution Bench which is expected to deliver the most awaited Ayodhya verdict by November 15.
Amongst many other landmark judgements that Justice Bobde has delivered, is the one wherein a nine-judge bench of the apex court headed by the then CJI JS Khehar and which included Justice Bobde had held unanimously that the right to privacy was a constitutionally protected right in India.
Justice Bobde also headed a three-member in-house committee which gave a clean chit recently to CJI Gogoi on a sexual harassment complaint. The committee also included Justices Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra. He also played a vital role in the 3-judge bench which in 2015 clarified that no citizen of India without an Aadhaar card can be denied basic services and government services.
Additionally, not long ago did Justice Bobde also headed a two-judge bench directing the Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, appointed by it for the purpose of running the BCCI administration, paving the way for elected members to run the affairs of the cricket board.
Justice Bobde has recently expressed his views on the same without commenting on any sub judice aspects.
“We are just deciding the issues that have been raised by the litigants in the Ayodhya case and none of them is a political issue. It is a landmark case but not political. It may have some ramifications that we cannot foresee now.”
Justice Bobde has been recently very open on the aspects of maintaining transparency and to bring in a state of belief in the environment where the apex court and the nation look upon each other with stern confidence as far delivering justice is concerned. There have been several incidents when the apex court has come under the scanner of public opinion or should we say media trials? To cite one of them is the roster of cases, wherein there has been a cloud of thoughts wavering around the corridors that there always would be a reason for a case to be allocated to a particular judge.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong about the things that are happening, but some steps have to be taken to restore what is called normalcy. Why is this case being heard by this person or why this particular person has not been hearing it? First of all, those things are not justified. But there are rules that we can go by. Balance has to be struck between them ”
Additionally, the major press conference that was organized in the greens of the apex court was a furthermore bolster to the dignity of the apex court when the CJI himself was under scrutiny for several reasons. Justice Bobde has opined on these aspects as well.
“Those questions do not exist anymore. If someone raises a concern about why a particular judge is not recusing, these are within the domain of the judge concerned. Recusal is a matter of consciousness and does not involve a reason. Traditionally, the judges are not asked to give a reason why they are not hearing a case,”
Justice Bobde has also been emphasizing on the necessity of easy access to justice in rural areas. He assures that he will be strengthening the legal diaspora for the same as and when required. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), formed on in November 1995 under the authority of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, provides free legal services to eligible candidates, and organises Lok Adalats for speedy resolution of cases. Bobde referred to former Justices R.M. Lodha, B.M. Srikrishna, and Justice C.K. Thakkar, as the judges whom he considers to be his role models.
“NALSA is doing a great job on the issue of access to justice. I am a part of it. We will bring some positive changes in the system.”
There has always been a speculation around women empowerment overall as far India Inc. is considered. While a lot would have changed in the last decade, there is lot more to be done to secure the feminism overall in the corporate scenario. This does not get limited to corporates only, but further extends towards lower courts, constitutional benches etc as well.
“I will strive for an objective and unbiased approach to select more women judges for the high courts and the Supreme Court. But the problem is their availability. They have to be 45 years or more to be eligible for selection as HC judges. So, we cannot create women judges for constitutional courts overnight. They have to be in the system.”
If there is a bias in place for selecting women justices;
“No, it is because of their nonavailability. But there could be another reason. Whenever the collegium proposes a name to government for appointment as HC judge, a steady stream of complaints pour in making all kinds of allegations. Maybe, the women do not want, and rightly so, to get enmeshed in such unwarranted controversies created by frivolous complaints,”.
Justice Bobde is in line with the current CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s proposal to the Centre to increase the retirement age of HC chief justices and judges to 65 years from the present 62 years. He believes that it will ease the competition to become a SC judge and more importantly states, that it is a waste of experience and talent acquired over the years if a judge is eased out of the system at the age of 62 years when the person is at the peak of his or her intellectual ability.
Justice Bobde timelines the filing insolvency pleas on behalf of 3.9 lakh Maharashtra farmers to save them from debt recovery officers (DROs) as a very satisfying case.
“The farmers were perennially debt-ridden because their products didn’t even fetch them the money invested to grow their crop. There was an agitation by Sharad Joshi to stop DROs of cooperative banks from entering the village as they were taking away utensils and other items from the farmers’ homes. I advised them and then filed insolvency pleas on behalf of farmers. The Bombay HC and later SC stayed debt recovery from farmers,”.
Secondly, dealing with a case of rape-cum-murder of a young girl. A labourer Armugam was convicted and sentenced. But the investigating officer committed suicide and left a note saying he had framed the labourer by planting false evidence and tutored witnesses.
“I was of the opinion that not only should the man be acquitted, but the witnesses who gave false evidence should be prosecuted. This case made me realise why a judge should not only seem to do justice but also strive to do justice by looking deeply into every aspect of every case,”.
The designate CJI emphasizes on the fact that justice is always in accordance with law, however he clarifies this as a notion with an overriding fact that there is always an element of equity where truth prevails and hardships that litigants have to go through and ultimately one cannot ignore the larger goal that should be achieved.
Justice Bobde places upholding the rule of law above everything else irrespective of any political upheavals as this happens to be a strong set of belief system in other nations like Istanbul where there is no system like ours. This of course remains a universal goal.
Apart from upholding the Rule of Law, Justice Bobde ascertains that the apex court should consider very carefully any sort of immediate changes where there may be any lack of knowledge in terms of implementation, consequences etc referring back to what Justice (M N) Venkatachaliah told him in person once, that – the slope of a drain should not be made steep suddenly because then the water will flow away and leave the rubbish behind.
As far pendency of cases is concerned, he feels that the delivery of justice is a time taking process and while all other steps are being taken to expedite the processes therein, one will need to go by the system otherwise. Justice at any cost should not be misdelivered.
Justice Bobde has proposed the usage of high-end technology including Artificial Intelligence in courts. He has also asserted that there may be a need for some minor changes in the justice system of the country by the inclusion of the use of technology such as artificial intelligence.
As per Justice Bobde, freedom of speech became a very important issue and does become a very important issue when there are too many regulations on activity. But liberating an individual from a certain rule can have an overall impact of loss of peace in the whole society, thus loss of freedom of the people at large. According to him, it is always that the freedom some people claim, that they can say anything about anybody, and justify it as their opinion without any basis and maliciously, and he does not think that can be justified because the law has always been this. Freedom of speech is subject to the law of defamation, the law of contempt of court and there is nothing more beautifully expressed than the saying that your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins.
There are two sides to the freedom of speech debate with some “getting away with anything and everything in public and social media platforms” while others “get manhandled for expressing their views. The conflict is apparent. Some have great freedom of speech. There has never been an era where freedom of speech has had such width for some people.”
The Chief Justice designate in conversation with journalists after a series of interviews to various media outlets spoke about his love and passion for biking as well. Earlier this year, Justice Bobde had met with an accident while test-riding a motorcycle, which has been learnt to be a high-end Harley Davidson bike. He fell off the bike and fractured his ankle. The accident kept him away from court duties as well as the Supreme Court Collegium meetings. Mr Bobde spent a few minutes with the journalists explaining the nature of his injury and clarified that the accident did not lead to a serious health concern.
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