An expansive idea of justice

Justice BR Gavai’s elevation as the Chief Justice of India is a moment to reflect on equity, diversity and representation in Indian judiciary

The elevation of Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) offers a moment of reflection on the journey of the judiciary in independent India, especially on questions of equity, diversity and representation. Justice Gavai, who charted an extraordinary journey from Amravati in Maharashtra to the hallowed halls of the apex court, is only the second CJI from the Scheduled Castes (SC) community. But his six-month tenure — he is scheduled to demit office on November 23 — also underlines some structural gaps in the judiciary.

Justice Gavai is only the second CJI from the Scheduled Castes (SC) community (Narendra Modi - X)

An ongoing series in this newspaper based on an internal database of all CJIs and 279 apex court judges shows that two in three Supreme Court judges have a judicial background. Less than a third are first-generation practitioners of the legal profession; 32 have close family relations with previous top court judges. Women and marginalised communities also fare poorly. A woman became a top court judge for the first time only in 1989. Only 11 judges so far have been women. Two CJIs have been from the other backward classes (OBC) and none from the Scheduled Tribes (ST). Only 27 judges so far have been from OBC, SC, or ST groups.

The judiciary has made some strides. Over time, the skew in favour of only a handful of prominent high courts has been rectified. But the social composition of judges has not changed much. This suggests that deeper and more nuanced interventions are required to address such issues at every level of the judiciary — the pool of candidates, from where top court judges are chosen, has to become more representative first, for which the lower judiciary and high court judges must promote more diversity.

As a first step, the collegium system has to embrace some reform. Already, the Supreme Court has initiated welcome steps at transparency by making the assets of top court judges public, and also releasing details of collegium recommendations. This newspaper’s ongoing series hints that the pre-collegium system was more successful at elevating first-generation lawyers, though both systems fare poorly when it comes to marginalised groups.

Constitutional morality, which requires that all groups have equality of opportunity, is not antithetical to merit. In fact, if courts take a deeper look at social compositions, it will only enhance the respect and trust it enjoys among the general public. As one of the pillars of India’s democracy that has repeatedly ensured social equality, the judiciary would do well to introspect and embrace reform. Justice Gavai’s elevation is an opportune moment to do so.