Justice BR Gavai to take oath as 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14
New Delhi, Apr 16,
Justice Gavai is currently the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Khanna. He will serve as the 52nd Chief Justice of India until his retirement on November 23, 2025
Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai will be sworn in as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on May 14, a day after the current CJI, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, retires.
His name was recommended by Justice Khanna to the Union Law Ministry, following the usual tradition where the outgoing Chief Justice names their successor.
Justice Gavai is currently the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Khanna. He will serve as the 52nd Chief Justice of India until his retirement on November 23, 2025. That means he will hold the post for about six months.
Who is Justice BR Gavai?
Justice Gavai was born on November 24, 1960, in Amravati, Maharashtra. He studied law and joined the Bar in 1985. He started his legal career by working with the late Raja S Bhonsale, who was a former Advocate General of Maharashtra and a high court judge.
After gaining some experience, Justice Gavai began practising independently at the Bombay High Court in 1987. He focused mainly on Constitutional and Administrative law. Over the years, he represented several public bodies such as the municipal corporations of Nagpur and Amravati, Amravati University, and various state-run organisations.
In August 1992, he was appointed as the Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. In 2000, he was promoted to Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the same bench.
Justice Gavai was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003, and became a permanent Judge in 2005. He served in various benches of the high court — including in Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Panaji. On May 24, 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.
During his time at the Supreme Court, Justice Gavai has been part of several important verdicts. He was one of the judges who upheld the central government’s 2016 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes. He was also on the bench that declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional.
[The Business Standard]
