New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has recommended name of second senior-most judge, Justice S A Bobde, as the next Chief Justice of India by writing a letter of appointment.

As per the tradition, the sitting CJI has to write and recommend his immediate successor.
 CJI Gogoi is going to retire on November 17.
 
After the recommendation by CJI Gogoi, if Justice Bobde would be appointed as the next Chief Justice, then he will serve the post for one year and five months till April 2021. 
 
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has written to the government recommending Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor, sources said.

Justice Gogoi, in his letter to the Ministry of Law and Justice, recommended to the government that it starts the process for appointing Justice SA Bobde as the next Chief Justice. Sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, Justice Gogoi retires on November 17.

Justice Bobde is number 2 in seniority after Justice Gogoi and is a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Official sources said the chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.

Justice Gogoi as the Chief Justice has a tenure of 13 months and 15 days while Justice Bobde, who will be sworn in as CJI on November 18, will have a tenure of about 18 months.

According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".

Under this process, after receiving the CJI's recommendation, the law minister puts it before the prime minister who advises the president on the matter.