Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde⁠ — his key verdicts and other unknown details

In February 2017, Bobde and L Nageswara Rao rejected a woman's plea seeking the termination of her foetus, that was expected to suffer from Down Syndrome.

"It is sad that the child may suffer from physical and mental challenges and it's unfortunate for the mother but we can't allow an abortion...We have a life in our hands," the bench reportedly said adding that a foetus can be terminated only if it is a danger to the mother’s survival.

In September 2017, Bobde and L Nageswara Rao upheld the ban by the Karnataka Government of a book by Mate Mahadevi’s book Basava Vachana Deepthi, on grounds that it outraged the religious feelings of Lord Basavanna’s followers.

However, the Bobde-Rao bench did not offer any reason⁠— which is a rare occurrence in the Indian Supreme Court.

“Your intention is not malicious. But you have hurt. We will not interfere. We can’t say government opinion is wrong. The high court has taken a view. Why should we interfere with it?” Justice Bobde reportedly told Mate Mahadevi.

A three-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court, comprising Bobde, TS Thakur and Arjan Kumar Sikri in 2016,suspended the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region citing rising air pollution.

Justice Bobde was part of the five-judge constitution bench hearing longest running Ayodhya land dispute case and in which the judgement is still awaited before Justice Gogoi’s retirement on November 17.