Justice B R Gavai sworn in as new CJI

New Delhi: Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on Wednesday. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Ganatantra Mandap.

The 64-year-old Justice Gavai replaces Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who retired Tuesday upon reaching age 65. Justice Gavai, appointed to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, will serve as Chief Justice for approximately six months until his retirement on November 23.

Before his appointment as Chief Justice, Justice Gavai participated in several significant judicial decisions, including the ruling that upheld the government’s revocation of Article 370’s special status provisions for Jammu and Kashmir.

He took the oath of affirmation in Hindi.

Soon after he took oath, CJI Gavai sought blessings of his mother Kamal Tai Gavai by touching her feet. He was greeted by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and former judges. PM Modi later posted pictures of the swearing in on his social media handle.

“Wishing him the very best for his tenure,” the prime minister wrote on X.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, J P Nadda and Arjun Ram Meghwal attended the swearing in ceremony along with former president Ram Nath Kovind. Born on November 24, 1960, in Amravati, Justice Gavai was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003.

He became a permanent judge of the high court on November 12, 2005.

Justice Gavai has been a part of several Constitution benches in the apex court which delivered path-breaking verdicts.

He was part of a five-judge Constitution bench which in December 2023 unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Another five-judge Constitution bench, of which Justice Gavai was a part, annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.

He was part of a five-judge Constitution bench which, by a 4:1 majority verdict, gave its stamp of approval to the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination currency notes.

Justice Gavai was also part of a seven-judge Constitution bench, which by a 6:1 majority held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward among them.

A seven-judge Constitution bench also having Justice Gavai ruled that the arbitration clause in an unstamped or insufficiently stamped agreement between parties was enforceable as such a defect was curable and did not render the contract invalid.

In an important verdict, a bench headed by Justice Gavai laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior showcause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.

He is also heading the bench which is hearing matters related to forests, wildlife and protection of trees.

He had joined the bar on March 16, 1985, and was the standing counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University.

Justice Gavai was appointed an assistant government pleader and additional public prosecutor in the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench from August 1992 to July 1993.

He was appointed a government pleader and public prosecutor for the Nagpur bench on January 17, 2000.

According to the memorandum of procedure — a set of documents guiding appointment, elevation and transfer of high court and Supreme Court judges — the law minister writes to the CJI to name his or her successor.

The memorandum of procedure says the senior-most judge of the apex court is considered fit to hold the office of the CJI and the views of the outgoing head of the judiciary have to be sought “at an appropriate time”.with agency inputs