Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on Wednesday. President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Gawai, who made CJI Sanjeev Khanna a success.
Justice Gawai is the first Buddhist CJI and only from the Dalit community, after the former CJI KG Balakrishnan, who took over to capture the highest judicial office in the country in 2007. Justice Gawai has also clarified that he will not take any retirement assignment.
Asked if he would join politics like his father, Justice Gawai said, “No political ambition. I have decided not to take any post retirement assignment or post. Any other assignment is also below CJI post, the governor is also below the CJI post.”
Justice Gawai, a famous politician, is the son of Gawai, who was the Governor of Bihar and Kerala. He belongs to a family that is deeply involved in promoting BR Ambedkar’s ideals. His father was a prominent Ambedkarite and a former member of Parliament.
Born in a Maharashtra village, Justice Gawai has said that he still prefers to visit his village three times a year, especially on the anniversary of his late father’s birth and death and during the annual fair in his village.
Born on November 24, 1960 in Amravati, he joined the bar on March 16, 1985 and started his practice in the Bombay High Court and before the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.
He was appointed as a government petitioner and public prosecutor for the Nagpur bench on 17 January 2000. He was elevated as an additional judge of the High Court on November 14, 2003 and became a permanent judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2005.
Justice Gawai was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on 24 May 2019.
In the last six years, he was a part of about 700 benches related to matters related to various subjects related to various subjects including constitutional and administrative law, civil law, commercial dispute, arbitration law, power law, education, environment law, etc.
Justice Gawai will retire on 23 November 2025. (ANI)