Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was on Tuesday appointed the next Chief Justice of India.He would enter the office of the CJI on May 14, a day after incumbent CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna demits office.The law ministry issued a notification announcing Justice Gavai's appointment as 52nd chief justice of India.
As per laid down procedure, his name was recommended by CJI Khanna on April 16 to the central government.
Justice Gavai will have a tenure of six months and he would demit office on December 23 on attaining the age of 65 years.
He is the senior-most Supreme Court judge after the incumbent CJI Khanna. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal shared the update on social media platform. "In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as the Chief Justice of India with effect from May 14, 2025," the Minister wrote on X.
Pertinently, it was his predecessor Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna who lon April 17 wrote to the Union Law Ministry, naming Justice B R Gavai, the second-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor. Once approved by the government, Justice Gavai will become the 52nd Chief Justice of India.
Elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai, 64, will take over as CJI after the retirement of the current CJI Khanna, and remain in office till November 23, 2025. Justice Khanna will retire on May 13, 2025. The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years.
Hailing from Amravati in Maharashtra, Justice Gavai joined the Bar on March 16, 1985, and worked with Raja S Bhonsale, former Advocate General and judge of the Bombay High Court, till 1987. After 1990, he practised mainly before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in Constitutional and Administrative Law. He was also Standing Counsel for Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati University.
Justice Gavai was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court from August 1992 to July 1993, and as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor from January 17, 2000.
As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Gavai has been a part of several landmark rulings. He was part of the SC majority verdict of January 2023, which upheld the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising him upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and also struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
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