Justice BR Gavai sworn in as 52nd Chief Justice of India

Justice BR Gavai – the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court – was on Wednesday sworn-in as the 52^nd Chief Justice of India.

President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Gavai in Hindi at a brief ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at 10 am.

Justice Gavai is only the second individual from the Dalit community to become the CJI, the first being Justice KG Balakrishnan - the 37^th CJI from January 14, 2007 to May 12, 2010.

Justice Gavai succeeds Justice Sanjiv Khanna who retired on April 13 after a six-month stint. Justice Khanna had on April 16 recommended Justice Gavai’s name as his successor last month. The Centre had notified his appointment on April 29.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union ministers, outgoing CJI Khanna, senior-most Supreme Court Judge – Justice Surya Kant, sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court and various other dignitaries from the fields of law and politics.

After taking the oath, CJI Gavai was seen touching the feet of his mother Kamaltai Gavai, who was present at the ceremony along with other members of his family.

After the ceremony, Justice Gavai paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi by garlanding his statue in the Supreme Court premises before occupying the chair of the CJI in Court No. 1 of the Supreme Court.

Elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai will have an over-six-month tenure as the CJI. He is due to retire on November 23, 2025.

There has been a convention of the CJI recommending the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor. Only twice, it was not followed - Justice AN Ray was appointed the CJI on April 25, 1973 superseding three senior-most judges and Justice MH Beg was appointed the CJI on January 29, 1977 superseding Justice HR Khanna.

Born on November 24, 1960 in Amravati, Gavai joined the Bar on March 16.

He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003 and became a permanent judge of the high court on November 12, 2005.

Justice Gavai has been a part of several important Constitution Bench verdicts. He was part of a five-judge Constitution Bench which in December 2023 unanimously upheld the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Justice Gavai was also on the five-judge Constitution Bench which quashed the electoral bonds scheme for political funding in February 2024. He was a part of the Constitution Bench which upheld the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination currency notes.

Justice Gavai was part of a seven-judge Constitution Bench which upheld sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes for grant of reservation. He is also heading a Bench hearing matters related to forests and wildlife.

A Bench led by Justice Gavai laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show-cause notice and those affected must be given 15 days to respond.