Supreme Court judge, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India on Monday. He has succeeded retired CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, whose tenure went down as one of the most eventful tenures as the head of the Indian judiciary till date. While Ayodhya verdict, having far-reaching consequences on the Indian jurisprudence and political system remains the defining moment of his tenure, he also headed benches deciding a number of other crucial matters such as bringing the office of Chief Justice of India within the ambit of the RTI Act, referring the Sabarimala dispute to a seven-judge bench, and others.
CJI SA Bobde has himself been a part of a catena of landmark verdicts, including the nine-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Khehar, which unanimously held that the Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right. He was also a part of a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court which held that a citizen without an Aadhaar card could not be denied basic services and government services. In 2016, Justice Bobde was also the part of an apex court bench that rejected a plea against the discharge of the present Union Home Minister, Amit Shah in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
He was also a part of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, which recently decided the 134-year old legal dispute over the Ram Janambhoomi site in the ancient city of Ayodhya in favour of the Hindu parties, paving way for construction of a grand temple at Lord Ram’s birthplace.
Recently, CJI SA Bobde also came in limelight, when he spoke to TOI about the critical issue of ‘freedom of speech’ and how there is a disparity in the level of freedom of speech afforded to different categories. Justice Bobde (who was the CJI-designate at that time) said that there are two sides of freedom of speech with some “getting away with anything and everything in public and social media platforms,” while others “get manhandled for expressing their views.” He added, “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.”
Justice Bobde’s remarks come at a time when the country has been going through an intense debate about free speech and expression. A particular section of citizens consisting of elites has been trying to portray itself as the intelligentsia of the country and has been consistently claiming that it holds a monopoly over wisdom. This elitist section, consisting of left-liberals has also appropriated to itself the right to decide the level of freedom of speech that a particular ideological or social group enjoys.
The people of India repose a lot of faith in the Indian judiciary. It is seen as the most reliable of the three wings of the government. Therefore, any CJI faces a massive pressure of expectations, in the capacity of the head of Indian judiciary. As far as his tenure is concerned, Chief Justice Bobde will have a tenure of over 17 months as the CJI and is due to retire on April 23, 2021. the Sabarimala judgment is going to be the most keenly awaited verdict. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi, had by a narrow majority of 3:2, decided to refer the review petition in the sensitive Sabarimala matter to a seven-judge bench, which would also decide certain important questions of law, including whether any religion can impose a ban upon the entry of women to enter places of worship and whether the Courts should get into what is an essential religious practice to decide if such practice is valid, or the Courts should take a practice as essential and then proceed in accordance with the constitutional provisions.
CJI Bobde will have to constitute a seven-judge bench to decide the Sabarimala dispute. The devotees who hold Lord Ayyappa’s celibate status in high regard. This also explains the restriction of women in the age group of 10 to 50 years to enter the shrine. A Supreme Court verdict last year lifted this restriction and the devotees are thus keenly awaiting an apex court verdict on the review petition in this matter.
The matter has now assumed even more significance as other crucial matters have also been clubbed together, such as entry of women in mosques, an female genital mutilation. As such the Court is also going to take a position on the “essential religious practice” doctrine. Whichever way the Court goes regarding this doctrine, it will have an important bearing upon the present disputes involving religious practices and even future disputes that come before the Court. Sabarimala matter is therefore critical not only because it closely concerns the sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees but also because it is going to set a major precedent. It will thus be the defining moment of the newly sworn in Chief Justice of India, Sharad Arvind Bobde.