Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai will take oath as the next Chief Justice of India on May 14, following the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on May 13. In line with tradition, Chief Justice Khanna has recommended Justice Gavai as his successor in a proposal sent to the Union Law Ministry, which had earlier requested the nomination.
Justice Gavai will serve as the Chief Justice of India for around six months, as he is set to retire in November. He will be the second Dalit to hold this position after Justice KG Balakrishnan, who became Chief Justice in 2007.
Justice Gavai hails from Amravati in Maharashtra. He began his legal career in 1985, working with barrister Raja Bhonsale, a former Advocate General and Judge of the Maharashtra High Court. From 1987 to 1990, he practised independently at the Bombay High Court and later focused mainly on Constitutional and administrative law cases at the Nagpur Bench.
In August 1992, he was appointed Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Nagpur Bench. He became the Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor in 2000. Justice Gavai was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in 2003 and became a permanent judge in 2005. In 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court.
As a Supreme Court judge, Justice Gavai has been part of several important verdicts. Notably, he was on the bench that upheld the Centre’s 2016 demonetisation decision. He was also part of the judgment that declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional.
