Justice B R Gavai Sworn In as the 52nd Chief Justice of India
New Delhi, May 14 — Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Wednesday in a solemn ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office, which Justice Gavai took in Hindi. Following the ceremony, he touched his mother Kamal Tai Gavai’s feet to seek her blessings.
Justice Gavai succeeds Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who retired on Tuesday upon reaching the age of 65. Appointed as a Supreme Court judge on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai will hold office as Chief Justice for a little over six months, with his tenure concluding on November 23, 2025.
As per agency report, Justice Gavai has served on several constitution benches of the Supreme Court that delivered significant verdicts. He was part of the five-judge bench that unanimously upheld the central government's 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.
He was also among the five judges who struck down the electoral bonds scheme used for political funding, and had participated in the majority verdict that upheld the demonetization decision of 2016, which invalidated ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes.
Justice Gavai also sat on a seven-judge bench that ruled, by a 6:1 majority, in favor of allowing states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes for targeted reservation benefits, especially for communities lagging behind in social and educational terms.
In another landmark judgment delivered under his leadership, the court held that no property should be demolished without issuing a show-cause notice, directing that a 15-day window be provided for affected parties to respond.
Born on November 24, 1960, in Amravati, Maharashtra, Justice Gavai enrolled at the Bar on March 16, 1985. He has previously served as standing counsel for several civic bodies and institutions, including the Nagpur and Amravati municipal corporations and Amravati University. In August 1992, he was appointed as an assistant government pleader at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, later becoming the government pleader in January 2000.
Justice Gavai was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003 and became a permanent judge in November 2005. In the Supreme Court, he has also headed benches related to forest, wildlife, and environmental matters.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and senior Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, J. P. Nadda, and Arjun Ram Meghwal were present at the oath-taking ceremony. Former President Ram Nath Kovind and several former judges also attended the event, congratulating Justice Gavai on assuming the country’s highest judicial post.
