Supreme Court not superior to high courts, says Chief Justice BR Gavai

Speaking at an event to celebrate the 79th Independence Day, the CJI said that both courts are equal.

Published on: Aug 15, 2025, 18:29:11 IST

By HT News Desk

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Chief Justice of India BR Gavai has stated that the Supreme Court is not superior to any high court in the country. Speaking at an event to celebrate the 79th Independence Day on Friday, the chief justice said that both courts are equal.

The Chief Justice further added that the top court "cannot dictate" a high court collegium to recommend a particular name for judgeship.

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"Ultimately, even the Supreme Court Collegium can't dictate the high court collegium to recommend the names... the Supreme Court is not a superior court to the high court," said Gavai.

"Both the Supreme Court and the high court are constitutional court, and so far as the constitutional scheme is concerned, they are neither inferior nor superior to each other," the CJI added further.

The Chief Justice further shared that the first call regarding the appointment has to be taken by the high court collegium.

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"We only recommend the names to the high court collegium and request them to consider the names, and only after their satisfaction that the candidates deserve the designation, the names come to the Supreme Court," he added.

In his speech, he also welcomed the initiative started by former chief justice Sanjiv Khanna where the Supreme Court collegium interacts with the candidates during the selection process.

CJI Gavai said that after interacting with the candidates for "10 minutes, 15 minutes or half an hour", the SC collegium can find out as to how suitable they would be to contribute to society.

(With inputs from PTI)

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