Bobde: I leave satisfied, I did my best as CJI
Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said Friday he was leaving the Supreme Court with the satisfaction that he did his best in leading the institution and leaves with “happiness, goodwill and very fond memories”. “I leave with the satisfaction that I did my best. I hand over thebaton to Justice Ramana who will, I am sure, very ably lead thecourt,” Chief Justice of India Bobde said in his farewell speech on his last working day.
Saying he is experiencing mixed feelings as he bids farewell to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of IndiaBobde said: “I leave this court with happiness, goodwill with very fond memories of wonderful arguments, excellent presentation, good behaviour, commitment to the cause of justice from not only the Bar but all connected with it.”
Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde on Friday said that he is leaving the top court with a satisfaction that he did his best in leading the institution and leaves with “happiness, goodwill and very fond memories.”
“I leave with the satisfaction that I did my best. I hand over the baton to Justice Ramana who will, I am sure, very ably lead the court,” CJI Bobde said in his farewell speech on his last working day in the Supreme Court.
Saying that he is experiencing mixed feelings as he is bidding farewell to the Supreme Court, CJI Bobde said, “I leave this court with happiness, goodwill with very fond memories of wonderful arguments, excellent presentation, good behavior, commitment to the cause of justice from not only Bar but all connected with it,”:
Having spent 22 years on the bench as judge starting with Bombay High Court, CJI Bobde said that his stay in the Supreme Court has been his richest experience. “Camaraderie with my brother judges has been wonderful”, he said. CJI Bobde recalled the transition to the virtual mode through video-conferencing as the Coronavirus pandemic broke out during his tenure and called for ironing out many unsatisfactory things about the virtual hearings. He thanked the registry for helping make a success of the virtual hearing. The Attorney General K.K.Venugopal congratulated CJI Bobde for steering the Court during the pandemic in March last year when the bar thought the court will close down.
“But then CJI Bobde rose to the occasion and started virtual hearing and almost 50,000 cases have been disposed of. It’s a great achievement,” Venugopal underlined.
As Attorney General Venugopal said that CJI should have a minimum of three year tenure, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh said that 65 years is no age for a top court judge to retire and advocated amendment to constitution to increase it. Hailing CJI Bobed for his involvement with the issues, Vikas Singh said, “Till the last day you were concerned about what is happening. You had taken up such a contentious matter of Covid on the last day too. This shows the involvement of the judges to ensure oxygen supply can be maintained in the hospitals.”
CJI Bobde was a judge for 21 long years, elevated to the 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 to the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013 and took the oath as the CJI on November 17, 2019