Justice BR Gavai sworn in as 52nd Chief Justice of India
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New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice B.R. Gavai on Wednesday, officially appointing him as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Justice Gavai will serve a tenure of over six months before retiring on November 23, 2025.
His appointment was cleared by the Centre on April 29, following a recommendation from his predecessor, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, last month.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 14th May, 2025," said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
Son of former Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai, Justice Gavai also took pride in the fact that he would be the first Buddhist CJI of the country.
"My father had embraced Buddhism along with Baba Saheb Ambedkar. I will become the first Buddhist Chief Justice of the country," he said.
Asserting that he believes in all religions, Justice Gavai said, "I go to temples, dargahs, Jain temples, and gurudwaras everywhere."
Justice Gavai was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.
Over the past six years, Justice B.R. Gavai has served on approximately 700 benches, presiding over cases spanning constitutional and administrative law, civil and criminal law, commercial disputes, arbitration, electricity regulations, education matters, and environmental law.
He has authored around 300 judgements, including key rulings from the Constitution Bench, reinforcing the rule of law and safeguarding fundamental, human, and legal rights.
Justice B.R. Gavai was part of a five-judge Constitution Bench that, in December 2023, unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision to revoke provisions of Article 370, which had granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
He also served on another five-judge bench that struck down the electoral bonds scheme for political party funding, ruling against its legality.
He was also part of a Constitution Bench that ruled in favour of states' authority to sub-classify scheduled castes listed in the presidential list, allowing for more targeted preferential treatment in public employment and education.
Justice Gavai was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003 and became a permanent judge in November 2005.
Before his elevation to the Bench, Justice B.R. Gavai specialised in constitutional and administrative law, serving as Standing Counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati University.
In August 1992, he was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench, a role he held until July 1993.
He later assumed the position of Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the Nagpur Bench on January 17, 2000.
