New Delhi: Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai is set to be the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).
Incumbent CJI Sanjiv Khanna has officially recommended Justice Gavai as his successor, and forwarded his name to the Union Law Ministry for approval.
Once the approval comes through, Justice Gavai will become the 52nd CJI.
Justice Gavai will be the second Dalit to head the country’s judiciary, after Justice KG Balakrishnan. Justice Balakrishnan served as Chief Justice from January 14, 2007 to May 12, 2010.
Justice Gavai is expected to take oath as CJI on May 14, as CJI Khanna is due to retire on May 13.
Like Justice Khanna, Justice Gavai’s stint as CJI will be for about six months as the latter is due to retire in November 2025.
Justice Gavai’s career
Justice Gavai was elevated as a permanent judge in 2005 and a Supreme Court judge in May 2019. He has Justice Gavai has been involvement in several landmark judgments as a senior Supreme Court judge, including the verdict upholding Narendra Modi government’s 2016 demonetisation decision and declaring the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional.
Born in Maharashtra’s Amravati on November 24, 1960, Justice Gavai began his legal career in 1985. He initially worked with the late Raja S Bhonsale, former Advocate General and High Court judge, before starting independent practice at Bombay High Court in 1987.
Considered to be an expert in Constitutional and Administrative Law, Gavai represented several civic and educational bodies, including Municipal Corporations of Nagpur and Amravati, Amravati University, and state-run corporations like SICOM and DCVL.
In 1992, Gavai was appointed Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. In 2000, he became Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the same bench.
He was appointed Additional Judge of Bombay High Court in 2003, and also served at the High Court’s principal seat in Mumbai and benches in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Panaji.
