Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on Wednesday. The oath was administered by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony held at the Ganatantra Mandap in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Justice Gavai, 64, succeeds Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who demitted office on Tuesday upon reaching the retirement age of 65. Justice Gavai will have a tenure of over six months and is scheduled to retire on November 23, 2025. He took the oath of office in Hindi and was seen seeking the blessings of his mother Kamal Tai Gavai by touching her feet immediately after the ceremony.
The event was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda, and Arjun Ram Meghwal, alongside former President Ram Nath Kovind and former judges.
Born on November 24, 1960, in Amravati, Maharashtra, Justice Gavai was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, after serving as a judge in the Bombay High Court since 2003.
Justice Gavai has been part of several Constitution benches that delivered landmark rulings. These include the unanimous upholding of the abrogation of Article 370, the annulment of the electoral bonds scheme, and the validation of the 2016 demonetisation move. He was also part of the bench that permitted sub-classification within Scheduled Castes for reservations and another that ruled arbitration clauses in unstamped agreements remain valid.
In a significant social justice verdict, a bench headed by Justice Gavai laid down guidelines against demolition of properties without prior notice, mandating a 15-day showcause period for the affected parties.
He currently heads the bench dealing with issues related to forests, wildlife, and environmental protection.
Justice Gavai began his legal career in 1985 and served as standing counsel for several municipal bodies. He was appointed government pleader and public prosecutor at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court in 2000.
As per the Memorandum of Procedure, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is considered for the position of CJI, with the law minister consulting the outgoing CJI for naming the successor.
