Justice Gavai to take oath as CJI on May 14
Elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai, 64, will take over as CJI after the retirement of CJI Khanna, and remain in office for a six-month tenure till November 23, 2025.
New Delhi Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday recommended to the Centre the name of justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai as his successor. Once approved by the government, Justice Gavai will become the 52nd Chief Justice of India and take oath on May 14.
Elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai, 64, will take over as CJI after the retirement of CJI Khanna, and remain in office for a six-month tenure till November 23, 2025.
CJI Khanna who took over in November last year is due to retire on May 13.
Born on November 24, 1960 at 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 a 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 ₹1,000 and ₹500 denomination currency notes.
Justice Gavai was 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.
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.
