CJI B.R. Gavai is first Buddhist to head India's judiciary
CJI B.R. Gavai is first Buddhist to head India's judiciary
Justice B.R. Gavai who was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI), is the first Buddhist to head the country's judiciary
In this image released by @narendramodi via X on Wednesday,
May 14, 2025, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai takes the oath of office as 52nd
Chief Justice of India during a ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
(@narendramodi via PTI Photo)
NEW DELHI — Justice B.R. Gavai who was administered the oath of office by
President Droupadi Murmu early on Wednesday as the 52nd Chief Justice of India
(CJI), is the first Buddhist to head the country's judiciary.
CJI Gavai, will have a tenure of over six months, and he
will demit the highest judicial office of the country on November 23, 2025.
President Murmu, in exercise of powers under Article
124(2) of the Constitution, had appointed Justice Gavai, the senior most Judge
of the Supreme Court, as Chief Justice of India, and the Ministry of Law and
Justice had later notified his appointment on April 29.
Justice Gavai was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme
Court of India on May 24, 2019.
Appointed as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in
November 2003, he became a permanent Judge in November 2005.
Before elevation to the Bench, he practised in
constitutional law and administrative law and acted as Standing Counsel for
Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati
University.
He was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and
Additional Public Prosecutor in the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench in August
1992 and served till July 1993.
He was appointed as Government Pleader and Public
Prosecutor for the Nagpur Bench on January 17, 2000.
Earlier, in an informal interaction with the media,
Justice Gavai expressed sorrow over the tragic incident in Jammu and Kashmir’s
Pahalgam and said that the Supreme Court cannot remain untouched when the
country is mourning.
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, gurudwaras
everywhere."
In the apex court, Justice Gavai, a part of the 7-judge
Constitution Bench dealing with the question of whether a sub-classification
among reserved category groups for giving more beneficial treatment would be
permissible under the Constitution, suggested the application of the
"creamy layer" principle to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes
(STs) for availing benefits of affirmative action.
In his detailed opinion, Justice Gavai said: "When
the 9-Judge Bench in Indra Sawhney held that applicability of such a test
(creamy layer test) insofar as Other Backward Classes are concerned would
advance equality as enshrined in the Constitution, then why such a test should
not also be made applicable to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes."
"Can a child of IAS/IPS or Civil Service officers be
equated with a child of a disadvantaged member belonging to Scheduled Castes,
studying in a Gram Panchayat/Zilla Parishad school in a village?" he
asked.
Justice Gavai said putting the children of the parents
from the SCs and STs who, on account of the benefit of reservation, have
reached a high position and ceased to be socially, economically and
educationally backward and the children of parents doing manual work in the
villages in the same category would defeat the constitutional mandate.
