CJI Gavai calls for cooperation between judiciary, executive to fill judicial vacancies
Three days after taking over as the Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai on Saturday called for cooperation between the judiciary and the executive to fill judicial vacancies at the earliest in order to clear the backlog of cases.
“I would request the Laureate Solicitor to convey our request to the executive that by a cooperative approach we must ensure to minimise the vacancies as much as… as strictly as we can so that to some extent the issue of pendency would be resolved,” the CJI said alluding to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta while speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Bar Council of India (BCI).
Emphasising the need for greater diversity in judicial appointments, Justice Gavai urged high courts to recommend the names of more women, SC, ST and OBC candidates for elevation to the Bench.
As on May 1, 2025, out of the total 1,122 sanctioned posts of judges in 25 high courts, 354 posts of judges remain vacant, the Department of Justice’s Data revealed. According to the National Judicial Data Grid, there are 63,08,757 cases pending in high courts.
Will do my best
AdvertisementI don’t give any interviews because I cannot make promises… I will do my best to stand by my oath to uphold the rule of law, the Constitution of India - Justice BR Gavai, CJI
“On a personal note, I have told many Chief Justices that if they do not have a woman candidate in their high courts, they should consider the excellent pool of women advocates practising in the Supreme Court. To some extent, we have been successful in that,” the Chief Justice of India said at a function attended by judges, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, advocates and Bar leaders from across the country.
Maintaining that he was opposed to the idea of judicial isolation, Justice Gavai said judges must consider the real-world context and not just the black-and-white letters of the law.
He said, “I don’t give any interviews because I cannot make any promises… I don’t believe in making promises… The only thing I can say is that whatever short period that I have I will do my best to stand by my oath to uphold the rule of law, to uphold the Constitution of India,” CJI Gavai said.
Justice KV Viswanathan revealed that CJI Gavai in a “touching gesture” departed from the usual practice while bidding adieu to Justice Bela M Trivedi on Friday.
“I will at least let go of one secret for which I have not taken his (CJI’s) permission. As a judge, protocols never affected him. But what we got to see in the two days as Chief Justice is something phenomenal,” Justice Viswanathan said as he revealed that CJI Gavai went to Justice Trivedi’s chamber to receive her for the “guard of honour” ceremony.
“But yesterday, we were all taken by surprise when, from the Chief Justice’s chamber on the ground floor, he (CJI Gavai) decided to walk up two floors to the Chamber of Justice Bela Trivedi, and went right into her chamber. We followed suit, received her in the chamber and then escorted her right down till the portico where a guard of honour is given and the learned judge is seated in the car, and symbolically, the car is pushed,” Justice Vishwanathan narrated.