New Delhi: Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna recommended Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai to the Centre on Wednesday as the next CJI.
Senior Justice Gavai is the second-highest judge of the Supreme Court, behind the current CJI Khanna, who will retire on May 13 and retire on May 14.
Judge Gawai was promoted to Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, serving as CJI for more than six months. He will retire on November 23, 2025.
Cji Khanna was sworn in for the 51st CJI on November 11 last year and he suggested that the Union Law Department appoint Justice Gavai as the next CJI.
The retirement age of the Supreme Court judge is 65 years old.
Judge Gawai was born on 24 November 1960 in Amravati and was promoted to an additional judge of the High Court of Mumbai on 14 November 2003.
He became a permanent judge of the High Court on November 12, 2005.
Justice Gawai has been part of several constitutional benchmarks of the Supreme Court, which has made a breakthrough decision.
He is part of a five-judge Constitutional Judge who unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision in December 2023, repealing Article 370 and granting special status to Jamu and Kashmir’s past.
Judge Gawai is another five-judge constitutional judge, abolishing the electoral bond program for political funds.
He was part of the five-judge Constitutional Judge, and in a 4:1 majority judgment, he endorsed the Centre’s decision to withdraw money from Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 in 2016.
Justice Gawai is part of the seven-judge constitutional benchmark, and in a 6:1 majority, the state has constitutionally competent to subcategorize the predefined caste that socially constitutes a socially heterogeneous class to retain more socially and educationally uplift towards backward castes.
The Constitutional Judge of the Seven Judges also made Justice Gawai rule that the arbitration clause in an agreement that was not stamped or insufficiently stamped between the parties was enforceable because such a flaw was curable and did not invalidate the contract.
In an important judgment, the judge who ruled the Pan-Indian Guidelines by Justice Gavai said that without prior display notice, the property should not be demolished and the affected 15 days must be given to respond.
He also led a bench for hearing matters related to forests, wildlife and tree conservation.
He joined the Bar Association on 16 March 1985 and served as a permanent consultant to Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University.
From August 1992 to July 1993, he was appointed as an assistant government complaint and other prosecutor on the Nagpur bench in the Mumbai High Court.
He was appointed as the government defense lawyer and prosecutor on the bench of Nagpur on January 17, 2000.
According to the memorandum of procedure – a set of documents directing appointments, documents that guide the Supreme Court and Supreme Court judges – the Minister of Law wrote to CJI, naming his or her successor.
The MOP said the Supreme Court’s Supreme Court judge was considered suitable for serving as the CJI office and had to seek trials from the outgoing judiciary “at the right time.”
