Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai took oath as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI), in presence of President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday, becoming the first Buddhist to head the country’s judiciary.
He succeeds CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who retired on Tuesday, and will have a tenure of a little more than six months, retiring on November 23, 2025 when he turns 65.
Justice Gavai is also the second person from the Scheduled Caste community to hold the position, after Justice K G Balakrishnan. Since its establishment in 1950, the Supreme Court has only had seven judges from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.
Justice Gavai has often invoked the spirit of the Constitution to acknowledge how affirmative action has shaped his identity. “It is solely due to Dr B R Ambedkar’s efforts that someone like me, who studied in a semi-slum area at a municipal school, could attain this position,” he had said in a speech in April 2024. When he ended that speech with a chant of “Jai Bhim,” the judge received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Justice Gavai was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on May 24, 2019. Ever since, he has been a part of several Constitution benches that have delivered landmark rulings.
He was part of a five-judge Constitution bench which, in December 2023, unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to and Kashmir. Another five-judge Constitution bench of which Justice Gavai was a part annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
Born on November 24, 1960, at Amravati, Justice Gavai was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003. He became a permanent judge of the High Court on November 12, 2005.
He joined the Bar on March 16, 1985, and worked with Raja S Bhonsale, former Advocate General and Bombay High Court Judge, till 1987. After 1990, he practised mainly before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in Constitutional and Administrative Law. He was the standing counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University.
