“Bengali bhadralok” Justice Bose has been named NJA chairman after retiring

NEW DELHI: Judge Aniruddha Bose, who was frequently referred to by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud as the epitome of a Bengali “bhadralok” for his impeccable style of dressing in punjabi and a neatly ironed dhoti outside of the court, retired on Wednesday following a five-year term as a Supreme Court judge.

Attorney general R Venkarataramani, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, senior advocates A M Singhvi, Dushyant Dave, and Sukumar Pattjoshi were effusive in their praise of Justice Bose for his sense of justice, intellectual prowess, and the old traditional charm which he brought into the courtroom at the end of the ceremonial bench proceedings where the retiring judge shares courtroom number one dais with CJI.
According to CJI Chandrachud, “We have decided, and he has graciously accepted the assignment to head the National Judicial Academy at Bhopal to train judges of both trial courts and constitutional courts.” Justice Bose has a broad knowledge base from his different reading experiences.
“Excellently equitable, kind, sympathetic, well-read, and a judge who never stops wanting to serve the last person in line with justice.” Only Justice Bose is leaving the Supreme Court. The CJI said that the judges unanimously agreed that academician-jurist Justice Bose was the ideal candidate to lead NJA.
While the AG said that Justice Bose was skilled at “stealing the hearts” of both plaintiffs and attorneys, Mehta countered that while Justice Bose was a brilliant man, he was also a perfect gentleman who never placed the burden of his knowledge on advocates. According to Singhvi, Justice Bose had a wonderful grin that matched his old-fashioned, pleasant demeanor in the courtroom. He was also an avid reader of books on a wide range of subjects. Dave expressed his happiness at being in front of Justice Bose.
Justice Bose completed his LLB studies at Surendranath Law College after earning his commerce degree from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata. In 1985, he became an attorney at the Calcutta High Court. In January 2004, he was appointed as a permanent High Court judge, and in August 2018, he was named Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court. In May 2019, he was named a judge of the Supreme Court.
In addition to Justice Bose, three other Supreme Court judges will retire this year: CJI Chandrachud on November 10, Justice Hima Kohli on September 1, and Justice Ajjikuttira Somaiah Bopanna on May 19. On November 11, Justice Sanjiv Khanna will become the 51st Chief Justice of India.